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31 December , 2014

Resurgence Of Godse, The Gandhi Killer Worship
By Ram Puniyani

The activists of Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha are all set to build the country's first temple for murderer of Mahatma Gandhi in Meerut. There are several demands from the Hindu Mahasabha offices to install his statues. The Hindu Mahasabha has requested land from the Centre to erect a statue of Godse in the national capital. The paperback issue of Godse’s book is already running into second reprint

US Drone Strike Against Somalia
By Bill Van Auken

A US pilotless drone carried out an attempted assassination Monday night of a leading member of Somalia’s Al Shabab, an Islamist militia opposed to the country’s US puppet government. Pentagon spokesman Adm. John Kirby issued a statement acknowledging that the target of the strike, which took place in the vicinity of Saccaw, about 100 miles north of the port city of Kismayo, was a senior Al Shabab leader, but he did not name the intended victim

The Challenge Of The Islamic State And U.S. Policy
By Karl Meyer & Kathy Kelly

What to do about the political mess in the Middle East and the rise of the Islamic State and related political movements? Shortly after the end of World War II, the Western powers and the whole world began to recognize that the age of explicit colonial domination was over, and dozens of colonies were let go of and took political independence. It is now past time for the United States and other world powers to recognize that the age of neo-colonial military, political and economic domination, especially in the Islamic Middle East, is decisively coming to a close

Why America Annexed Texas And Loves Saudi Dictators
By Robert Barsocchini

Q: Why has the US been a close ally of Saudi Arabia since Saudi oil was discovered around the 1930s? (Doesn't Saudi Arabia embody everything America-pushers pretend to hate?)
A: Same reasons the US wanted to annex Texas – to control production of the now most important global commodity, oil, and continue to bring other nations to US feet by manipulating production/distribution of the commodity

Australia’s Declared War On Muslims
By Ghali Hassan

It is official: Australia is at war with Muslims and Islam. Australian politicians and the racist media are fanning the flame of prejudice and racially-motivated violence against Muslims. Anti-Muslims bigotry has become the most important issue in Australian politics. The aim is to demonise Muslims and connect Muslim Australians to U.S.-led war in the Middle East and justify Australia’s direct complicity in U.S.-led imperialist aggression in Syria and Iraq

America Stumbles Through Another Year, Spreading Chaos And Trivia Everything In Its Path
By John Chuckman

What kind of world do we want to live in? One where coups and civil wars are engineered for the pleasure of others? One where airliners full of people are shot down deliberately? This is the chaos, and just part of it, America has bestowed upon us in the twenty-first century. I won’t even go into the financial tsunami it created in 2008 with the same lack of caution for others and concern about doing things correctly. The full impact of that has yet to strike us all

Peshawar Tragedy: Losing Head And Heart
By Maryam Sakeenah

Tragedies like the one in Peshawar are litmus tests for any nation- either bringing out the best, or exposing the bare bones. Pakistan’s response is curiously similar to the U.S response to 9/11. The fact that the U.S’s counter-terror strategy accounts for the genesis of a much more brutal TTP and ISIS is lost to us

Twenty-Two Stitches For Drinking Water
By Gladson Dungdung

Nagendra Singh is a Chero Adivasi. There were 22 stitches on his head. These stitches were the price he had to pay for using the hand pump at a police checkpoint near the famous Betla sanctuary. Can a person be punished so severely in a free country for consuming some water from a public hand pump?

Kashmir Needs A “PETER”!
By Mohammad Ashraf

Kashmir is at present desperately in need of someone like the “Peter of Haarlem” who can put his finger in the hole in the dyke and stem the impending flood. Will any of the Kashmiri politicians act like the Peter of Haarlem? Will all the people come to his help to save Kashmir being overwhelmed and swept away by the tides coming in from both the directions? These are the questions in every Kashmiri mind right now! God alone knows the answer!

Why "Make In India" Will Not Make India
By Ajmal Khan

Make in India is nothing but an organized project to invite all the available private investment from across the globe to India giving tax, license, land and other attractive exemptions, liberal land acquisition programmes, and other benefits without even doing a background check of the investor or not making the investor responsible and accountable to whatever they do here in India

The “Ordinance Route” In Land Acquisition Act
Against The Spirit Of The Constitution Of India

By Sudhir Vombatkere

Open Letter to The President and Vice President of India

Secretary General, Rajya Sabha's Ignorance
About Legislative Process On Biometric Aadhaar

By Gopal Krishna
An AADHAAR (UIDAI) enrolment camp was set up from December 18, 2014 till December 23 exclusively for the Members of Parliament who have not been enrolled as yet.This seems to be an act of ignorance regarding the legislative process on aadhaar by the Secretary General, Rajya Sabha

Condemn Police Action Against Keraleeyam
By Concerned Citizens

The office of Keraleeyam, a magazine publishing from Thrissur in Kerala and focused on environmental and human right issues for the last 17 years, has been raided by Kerala police at the midnight of December 22, 2014. More than 40 armed police personal descended to the office located in Thrissur Town at the dead of the night for the raid and seized copies of Keraleeyam, pamphlets and notices of events conducted by Keraleeyam, books and other documents

30 December , 2014

New Snowden Docs Reveal Wider Net Of NATO 'Kill List' Targets
By Andrea Germanos

Newly revealed documents show that NATO's "kill list" for Afghanistan operations included not just senior Taliban leaders but those suspected of being low- and mid-level operatives as well as drug traffickers, Der Spiegel has reported. Some of the secret documents, which are from 2009 to 2011, are from the trove released by Edward Snowden, the German paper states

For The Occupied And Oppressed Palestinians UN Means Useless Nations
By Alan Hart

As a new year dawns I believe that those who are entertaining hope that the cause of justice for the Palestinians will be advanced by another Security Council resolution are guilty of wishful thinking. They may also be unaware of the history of Zionism’s success in corrupting and subverting the decision making process of the General Assembly as well as the Security Council

The Future Is Local, The Future Is Not Monsanto
By Colin Todhunter

The current exploitative economic system and the imperialist model of globalisation and development suits the interests of Western oil and banking oligarchs, land and commodity speculators, global agribusiness and other power holders. People want solutions for hunger, poverty and conflict but are too often told there is no alternative to what exists. This is based on rejecting big agritech's current agenda and resisting the US strategy of using agriculture as a geopolitical tool. As is the case with Navdanya in India, it involves challenging the corporate takeover of agriculture and embracing sustainable agriculture that is locally owned and rooted in the needs of communities

Gone Missing – Thoughts On Race Based Violence
By Rev. David Rommereim

I cannot face this season of wonderful joy without touching the fearful pain and praying over the vital memory that has kept me alive six decades. Justice is not deferred, for privileged people like me. Yet, the news from Ferguson, Mo, and other cities from around this country, reveals a justice deferred that has injured the very soul of our country

The Renewed Push For Deeper North American Integration
By Dana Gabriel

The globalist plan to incrementally merge the U.S., Canada and Mexico into a North American Union has been ongoing for years. While at times, the agenda appears to have seemingly stalled, current efforts to expand the trilateral partnership show that it is alive and once again gaining steam. With NAFTA as the foundation, the renewed push for deeper North American integration continues on many different fronts

Can Compensation Replace Justice?
By People's Union For Democratic Rights

On 18th December 2014, the Supreme Court directed the Central Government to pay Rs. 10 lakh as compensation to the family of Thangjam Chanu Manorama Devi. Manorama Devi was picked up on the night of 11th July, 2004 from her home in Imphal by soldiers of the Assam Rifles on charges of being a member of the banned Peoples Liberation Army. She was tortured, raped and subsequently killed in their custody

Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Ordinance: Unconstitutional, Unjust, And Discriminatory
Open Letter By Concerned Citizens

Former Chief Election Commissioners and others write to CM Raje urging her to withdraw the Panchayati Raj Ordinance

29 December , 2014

On 'Moral' Grounds, Pope To Push For Action On Climate Change In 2015
By Deirdre Fulton

Pope Francis will take on global warming in 2015, with a lengthy speech on human ecology and climate change to the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, an address to the United Nations general assembly, and a summit of the world’s main religions, according to the Observer

The Militarist Agenda Behind Washington’s Confrontation With North Korea
By Peter Symonds

A comment published in the Wall Street Journal entitled “Time to End the North Korean Threat” demonstrates that powerful sections of the American ruling elite are pressing for a far more aggressive strategy directed at nothing less than regime-change in Pyongyang—a policy that threatens to trigger World War III. The article’s author, Richard Haass, is a central figure in the US foreign policy establishment—a former director of foreign policy studies at the Democratic Party-aligned Brookings Institution and former top-level diplomat, who is currently president of the semi-official Council on Foreign Relations

US Alliance Mainstream Media Censor Key Witness Testimony
That Ukrainian Pilot Shot Down MH17

By Dr Gideon Polya

US, Canadian, Australian, UK and notably Murdoch Empire Mainstream media have exposed their remorseless self-censorship on behalf of the US Government by extraordinarily completely censoring the key testimony by a Ukrainian military witness that a Captain Vladislav Voloshin of the Ukrainian air force had returned to base on 17 July 2014 in his Su25 fighter jet minus his 2 air-to-air guided missiles and had effectively admitted to shooting down Malaysian Airlines MH17. In contrast, the UK Huffington Post, BBC, Guardian and Telegraph, the Australian ABC, and other media across the world from Russia and Germany to Malaysia have reported this important interview

Renaming Afghan War, Renaming Murder
By David Swanson

The U.S.-led NATO war on Afghanistan has lasted so long they've decided to rename it, declare the old war over, and announce a brand new war they're just sure you're going to love

Activism Is A Job!
By Mickey Z.

It’s a rite of passage for all activist movements. When you’ve made enough of an impact and made your presence felt in big enough and consistent enough numbers, you’re gonna start hearing passersby (usually white men) contemptuously scream out to you on the street and in comment threads all across the interwebs: Get a job! As I witness this happening more and more at NYC #BlackLivesMatter (BLM) rallies, I figured it was time to once again share some thoughts from Occupy this Book: Mickey Z. on Activism

Raping The Middle East Religions And Cultures
By G. Asgar Mitha

The rape and victimization of Muslims and Arabs not only by others but by Muslims and Arabs themselves continues and so does that of cultures. Where is the limit? Will it be when the US turns upon the Wahaabists or will it be as Iran becomes stronger and the others become weaker? Or will it be when a leader in the form of a saviour from among Muslims and Arabs stand up to the tormentors and say "we are one. Now leave us alone". Till then the carnage will continue

An Anarchist Critique Of The Cuban “Revolution
By Dave Fryett

Some Thoughts On The “Revolution” In Cuba by an Anarchist

Eelam Tamils Make A Choice ,Take A Stand - Election January 2015
By Dr C P Thiagarajah

Uthayan newspaper reported that Mannar Catholic Bishop Rev Rajappu Joseph in his Christmas night mass had stated that what the country needed was a President who would be sympathetic or supportive of the political aspirations of the Tamils. We could infer from this sermon that a Tamil cannot be a president in the near future and that Tamils have to depend on the good sympathies of a Sinhala president. With all my 30 years government service in Sinhala areas I have my serious doubts that such a Sinhala president will ever be found for another fifty years

Land Acquisition, The Corporate Sector And People
By Walter Fernandes

According to a news item (The Assam Tribune, 7th December 2014) the Central Government has promised to make land acquisition for the private sector easier. It will amend The Right to Transparency, Just Compensation in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013 (LAR&R) that the Parliament enacted in September 2013 to replace the 119 year old colonial Land Acquisition Act 1894 (LAA). Both the BJP and the Congress voted for it. But after coming to power the NDA wants to amend or delete many of its clauses that favour the land losers but the corporate sector opposes them

Harvest Of Innocent Blood: The Democracy Deficit In Bodoland, Assam
By New Socialist Initiative (NSI)

The centre and the state governments have started an NIA enquiry of the massacre. To be credible, this enquiry should be impartial and find out the nexus between the armed mercenary groups like NDFB-S and the ruling dispensations and power groups who utilize the “services” of such groups. By simply giving a blanket order to flush out and eliminate the “miscreants”, the state cannot resolve the complex situation in Assam and the Northeast in general. It is actually a license for harassment, and violence on the ordinary people

Niall Ferguson on Kissinger's World Order [Part One]
By Thomas Riggins

A good book review both gives the gist of the book and allows you to decide if the book is worth reading or not. This is just what Niall Ferguson's review of Henry Kissinger's new 432 page "magisterial meditation" on world politics, World Order does ["K of the Castle"- TLS 11/28/2014]. I'll give you the gist of Ferguson's review and enough quotes from Kissinger's book for you to decide for yourselves

28 December , 2014

Critical Glaciers Melting Under Continuous Warming
By Nadia Prupis

Glaciers in China are disappearing quickly, an environmental institute in Lanzhou confirmed on Wednesday. Scientists with the Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute conducted a lengthy survey of southern glaciers, which provide vital drinking water to India, and found that their total geographic area had decreased by 13 percent since 2002

Putin To Donate 50,000 Tons Of Russia's Coal Daily To Ukraine For Heat
By Eric Zuesse

On Saturday, December 27th, Russian President Vladimir Putin decided that though Ukraine cannot now pay for coal and will soon go bankrupt, so that any ‘sale' of coal to Ukraine will be a donation, Russia will nonetheless supply 50,000 tons of coal per day to Ukraine in order to help them through the winter. The official announcement said that “this is a demonstration of good will of President Vladimir Putin to provide real support for the Ukrainian people.”

Peace, Love, And The Gift
By James Magnus-Johnston

If you can’t make more money exploring your gifts and skills, embrace the challenge. If we are to degrow the economy towards a steady state, we’re going to need to be a whole lot more generous, a whole lot happier, and more grateful for what we have already. Gift practices might shrink the formal economy a little, but they will engender precisely the love and community that we often feel is missing in modern life

The US Shameful War Against Palestine
By Dr Salim Nazzal

Whether the war is between materialism, and spiritualism, or between justice and injustice, it is a struggle for freedom and for peace which apart from position of the US and Israel and Micronesia ,is gaining a huge support worldwide

Real Estate Of Religion
By Satya Sagar

If religious institutions are in the business of ‘marketing and selling God' then there should at least be a sales tax on the proceeds. Tax these religious outfits and use the money to pay for truly religious actions such as giving the weak and poor a better life.Convert all the real estate of religious institutions into shelters for the homeless or into hospitals for the sick. It is time to liberate God from the clutches of merchants and middlemen who seek to rule in the name of religion

Kashmir: A Repetition Of History!
By Mohammad Ashraf

The three mainstream political parties claiming to be secular need to cobble out a combination to stem the onslaught of the declared religion based party. This can only be done if they rise above their individual egos and are sincere in ameliorating the lot of the common people. At this juncture, their decision is not only for the future of the state of J & K but for the entire region. Taking the overall scenario of the sub-continent in to consideration, the final scene in J & K can be a turning point as regards the tides of religious violence which are trying to sweep the entire area. On the other side innocent children have been mercilessly butchered in the name of God! On this side, people are being forced to reconvert from their practising religion to restore India to its ancient Hindu “glory”! There is an urgent need on both sides to put a stop to this fanaticism

Is Section 66A Of IT Act In India Unconstitutional?
By Saif Ahmad Khan

Section 66A of the Information Technology (IT) Act has been widely criticized by free speech activists and legal eagles. Many have dismissed this controversial section of the IT Act as “unconstitutional” and “arbitrary”. Hence, there is a need to ponder over the inherent flaws of Section 66A and the reasons as to why it has received so much of flak from public intellectuals

27 December , 2014

US Steps Up Pakistan Drone Murders Amid Crackdown Over School Attack
By Alex Lantier

Eight people died yesterday in two drone strikes in North Waziristan, a remote and impoverished area of Pakistan along the border with Afghanistan. US officials are increasingly reluctant to discuss Washington’s barbaric drone murder program, as it has been condemned by the UN for violating international law and is seen as deeply sinister by masses of people worldwide. US officials refused to comment on the two strikes. However, Pakistani intelligence officials confirmed that both attacks in North Waziristan were drone strikes

India On Palestine: The Choice Is Clear
By Feroze Mithiborwala

On Palestine, the choice is very clear for India. The choice for the Modi Government is to either choose to be part of the emerging powers led by the BRICS nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). Or then by standing with a pariah Israel, be reduced to a lackey of the Anglo-Zionist cabal, which is clearly receding as its global hegemony wanes

Elections Not A Referendum On Kashmir Issue
Eurasia Review Interviews Adfar Shah

Message is simply loud and clear, people want to move towards peace, prosperity and development. People want their candidates to fight for people’s security, for a life with dignity and most importantly for working towards creation of employment avenues which we lack so badly in this part of the world. The clear cut message by the election results to all the parties is that ‘if you fail to deliver, we will fail you for sure’

26 December , 2014

U.S. War Against Russia Is Now Against Hungary Too
By Eric Zuesse

Hungary has decided to align itself with Russia against the United States. The Western Alliance is starting to fray, over the insistence by Barack Obama and the U.S. Congress to go to war against Russia. This is called a ‘new cold war,' but it's actually already a hot war within Ukraine, immediately next door to Russia

Ukraine's Government Is Starving Residents Of The Breakaway Region
By Eric Zuesse

Amnesty International has found that “the already desperate situation in eastern Ukraine is being made even worse by” so-called ‘volunteer' or mercenary forces for the Ukrainian Government, which are blocking the supply of food to residents in that region, and trying to starve them to death. Thus, “The region is facing a humanitarian disaster with many already at risk of starvation,” said Denis Krivosheev, acting Director of Europe and Central Asia for Amnesty International, on Wed., December 24th. Amnesty International reports that, “Over half of the population in these areas are now entirely dependent on food aid.”

The Empire Is Crumbling, That Is Why It Needs War
By Andre Vltchek

The mask has fallen and what is now exposed is horrifying: the face of a monster, with blood and pus, a greedy grin and merciless fangs. It is a monster that is still in love with itself, unable to see its dreadfulness. It remains proud of its fundamental religious dogma, which it often doesn't even see as ‘religious'. It dwells on self-righteousness, and at the same time, on its twisted market-fundamentalist faith that everything and everybody are for sale. It is a monster full of complexes – both those of superiority and inferiority

Tunisia At The Rendez-vous With Destiny
By Mustapha Marrouchi

Now that the elections are over, now that a parliament and a president are elected by the people, the governing body, dominated by Nida Tounes led by Baji Caid Essebssi (the president-elect), prepares itself to sit for five years, it must look ahead and strive to reconcile all the parties in order to heal all the open wounds: unemployment, corruption, inequality, education, tourism, the economy—the latter is on its knees. The task will not be easy, but feasible. One thing is for sure: the country is poised to lead the way for democratic reforms in a region that is underdeveloped, a region where the very fabric of society is being torn by terrorism, tribal warfare (Libya is a case in point), and reliogiosity. For Tunisia, change must come from within: the country has an incredible reservoir of youth and that is highly educated, emancipated, and ambitious

Political Rumbas Start In Cuba
By Ralph Nader

Stay tuned to forthcoming events. Waging peace is a novel experience for hawkish U.S. foreign policy operatives and their provocative private consulting think tanks in Washington, D.C

Canada's Foreign Minister John Baird’s Lies About Russia
By Jim Miles

WOW - After listening to the Stephen Harper interview with Peter Mansbridge and now having listened to Canada's Foreign Minister John Baird interview with Evan Solomon (CBC), it is apparent that they both have their talking points down pat. They could have exchanged places and the comments would have come out pretty much the same

2004: US Did Not Warn Asian Nations Of Quake And Danger Of Tsunami
By Jay Janson

In this day of instant communications, controlled in a large part by the U.S., it is possible to communicate within minutes to every part of the globe. It is beyond belief that U.S. scientists working with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration could not find any method to directly and immediately contact civilian authorities in the area that might be hit shortly or within hours.” Ramsey Clark founded IAC spoke out

Conversion/Reconversion: Is The civil Society In Kerala Poised To Become A ‘Testing Lab’?
By K.M.Seethi

The social-psychological atmosphere conversion/reconversion issue sets in motion tends to widen social (communal) divisions and that is what its protagonists want it to happen. It is increasingly feared that the space the issue currently occupies in the media and new media has potential to ruin the social solidarity though the discussants on both sides of the spectrum might enjoy spending time on the issue. In the process, they too unwittingly become a part of the social process of self-division and thereby self-destruction. The ultimate question is whether the experiment in Kerala is going to make fundamental changes in the DNA of its civil society!

Uphold The Sanctity Of The Constitution Of India And Conserve Identity Of Bhagvad Gita
By R. B. Sreekumar

Request to uphold the pre-eminence and sanctity of the Constitution of India and conserve identity of Bhagvad Gita

Who Is Responsible For Assam Massacre?
By Gladson Dungdung

In the recent Assam violence unleashed by the extremist outfit the ‘National Democratic Front of Bodoland’ (Songbijit), where 81 people mostly the Adivasis were brutally killed, which also includes the killing of 3 innocent people by our brave soldiers, using their mighty power of ‘shoot at sight order’ while villagers were protesting against the violence. Besides, 15,000 people were made homeless and forced to live in the relief camps. Since, inception of the state called ‘India’ has been buying the dead bodies so Rs 500,000 was paid for each dead body this time too. Is it not a shameful incident for the largest democracy on the Earth? How long the state would count the dead bodies and buy them?

Modi: Fabricated Fame, Flawed Governance
By Suhail Qasim Mir

It is essential for the Prime Minister Modi to move beyond the speeches and photo-ops and do some real work for the country. Being on Television all the time may have helped him to be a popular figure but that is not going to solve the problems of country. For the dream of Prosperous India to come true, it is important for our PM to stop being a poster boy and act categorically. Let his actions create him the Brand-Modi, rather than he attempting to create one for himself in media

25 December , 2014

O Little Town Of Bethlehem
By Francis A. Boyle

Bethlehem is cut-off and surrounded by the Israeli army--the Church of the Nativity too. The Israelis are inflicting ethnic cleansing upon all the Palestinian, both Muslims and Christians. They are also pursuing a policy of deliberately forcing Palestinian Christians out of Palestine as part of a perverse strategy to turn a war of national liberation into a religious crusade, figuring it would play better in the United States. And these are the original Christians, going back to Jesus Christ and the Apostles. Meanwhile, the United States government is financing it all to the tune of $5 billion per year

Israel’s Wall In The Little Town Of Bethlehem
By Eileen Fleming

On Christmas Eve as we sing “O Little Town of Bethlehem” I will remove the removable wall and because I still believe in miracles I will say another prayer for the end of American Tax dollars that perpetuate injustice, violence, and conflict and for US support for a just peace in the Holy Land so that Israel’s Wall will fall

A Christmas Message For Those Who Feel That This Christmas Is Different In India
By K.P. Sasi

This day of Christmas should also have been the day, when the Cardinal and the upper caste Bishops stop supporting the majoritarian communal fascists, just for the benefit of protecting their properties and profits. For peace will not sustain, if religious freedom is not granted. It is not just for the security of millions of Christians in India who adopt Christian faith, it is for the security of themselves in future. For they must remember that the threat of fascism can happen to the upper caste Christians also. And in memory of Jesus Christ who sacrificed his life for humanity and the Holy Bible, it is time that Churches in India declare that there will be no peace without justice

Global Peace, War And The Xmas: Killing Goes On
By Mahboob A. Khawaja

Leader across the globe use the Xmas and the New Year’s Eve as convenient opportunities to echo festive messages of peace and optimism as if they long the humanity. Despite the inherent wickedness of warmongers and institutions, the global community is tolerant and open to listening to the abstract and absurd alike. Analyzing critically and objectively, there is hardly any international leaders capable of articulating an effective and credible message of hope and change under the present global affairs

Yanukovych Proposes Solution To Ukraine's Civil War; It Fits Obama's Plan
By Eric Zuesse

The Ukrainian President whom U.S. President Obama overthrew in a violent coup this past February is now proposing that “people will be able to negotiate and Ukraine will once again be united.”

New “Hobbit” Film Gives Glimpse of North Korean History
By Robert Barsocchini

There is another film out now with themes relating to North Korea. The Hobbit – The Battle of the Five Armies offers a look at what the “holocaust from the air” that the US in the 1950s inflicted on almost every city in North Korea was like. The US intentionally targeted defenseless civilians. There was no escape

Afghanistan: War On Terror And Beyond
By Haris Khurshid

The process of political integration of the disgruntled Taliban and other militant groups through power sharing mechanism could bring the war torn country to its historical glory. In views of many, the elusive peace in Afghanistan will be possible only through all inclusive Afghan led Afghan owned reconciliation process with sincere backing of United States,Pakistan and regional powers

The “Wave” Peters Out!
By Mohammad Ashraf

The “Wave” of Hindutva which had risen from the Indian Ocean through the shores of Gujarat has petered out on the soil of Sufi Kashmir!

23 December , 2014

Ukraine Parliament Approves Move Towards NATO
By Patrick Martin

In an action calculated to provoke further conflict with Russia, Ukraine’s parliament voted Tuesday to repeal legislation defining the country as “non-aligned,” and thus barring it from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The vote came by an overwhelming margin, 303 to 8, one month after President Petro Poroshenko declared his support for the step

Another MH17 Cover-Up: Hiding A Key Autopsy
By Eric Zuesse

Decisive evidence as to how the July 17th shooting-down of the MH17 Malaysian airliner occurred is being hidden by the four-nation team that's doing the official ‘investigation' into the plane-downing incident. This decisive evidence is the coroner's report on the corpse of the airliner's pilot. If the pilot was killed by bullets, then the standard ‘explanation' of the downing (that the plane was downed by a ground-fired missile) isn't just false, it's an outright hoax. So: where's the pilot's autopsy?

BBC Interview Claims The West Was Behind The Islamic Uprising In Iran
By Akbar E. Torbat

Because the economic pressures against Iran have not succeeded to completely shut down the entire Iran’s nuclear program, it seems political strategies are now accentuated to confront the regime in Tehran. One such strategy could be the release of details of how the West managed to overthrow the Shah in 1979 and helped the clerics to form the Islamic Republic. The BBC released an interview with the late Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, in which he said that the US government prepared the ground for victory of the Islamic revolution in Iran

Five Reasons Why 2014 Was A Game Changer In Palestine
By Ramzy Baroud

In terms of losses in human lives, 2014 has been a horrific year for Palestinians, surpassing the horrors of both 2008 and 2009, when an Israeli war against the Gaza Strip killed and wounded thousands. While some aspects of the conflict are stagnating between a corrupt, ineffectual Palestinian Authority (PA), and the criminality of Israeli wars and occupation, it would also be fair to argue that 2014 was also a game changer to some degree - and it is not all bad news

Fighting ‘Islamic State’ Is Not The Israeli Priority
By Nicola Nasser

Defying a consensus that it is a priority by the world community comprising international rivals like the United States, Europe, Russia and China and regional rivals like Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia, Israel, like Turkey, does not eye the U.S. – led war on the IS as its regional priority. Nor fighting Israel is an IS priority

Cuba-“Confusion”
By Farooque Chowdhury

Cuba appears “confusing”. Contradictory claims, blames, assertions, imaginations, opinions are making a cloud of confusion

Impossible Lessons
By Ravi Sinha

Speaking against religion is not a wise thing to do. It carries all kinds of dangers – exclusion and ridicule being among the more benign ones. It is not easy, therefore, to draw truthful lessons from histories and practices of religion. Nearly all of humanity that has lived so far has been religious and, by and large, it continues to be so. How does one criticize or evaluate the mode of living of the entire human race? How does one bring its core beliefs under dispassionate and fearless scrutiny?

Periyar: Remembering An Iconoclast
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

We remember iconic Periyar today on his death anniversary. The man who shook the foundation of brahmanical crookedness in Tamilnadu and gave a new direction to the state. Periyar is the name which still send shiver to these religious thugs who have been befooling people in the name of religion for years

The Nation And The Soldier
By S.G.Vombatkere

After PM Modi's outright insult to the Indian Army during his election campaign speech in Kashmir, one soldier was heard reflecting the general mood: “Saala, I don't care for AFSPA-shafspa. After this, one thing is clear to me. When the paltan goes to the valley, I am not going to stick my neck out for anything. Let the militants kill as many people as they want, and escape. At least that way there won't be any risk, either of getting killed, or killing someone, getting court martialled and going to jail.” The colourful language has been excluded, but the words convey the ominous ramifications

Massacre of Adivasis In Assam Is A Crime Against Humanity
By ACHR

Asian Centre for Human Rights today condemned the massacre of over 60 Adivasis including 18 children and 23 women in Assam last night in Kokrajhar and Sonitpur districts allegedly by members of the National Democratic Front of Bodolond (Songbijit faction) as crimes against humanity as defined under the Rome Statute of International Criminal Court

23 December , 2014

US Troops In Combat In Iraq
By Bill Van Auken

For the first time since the redeployment of US troops to Iraq, American military “advisers” have reportedly engaged in combat with elements of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the country’s embattled western Anbar Province

Global Consumption Of Coal Continues To Rise
By Lauren McCauley

As worldwide coal consumption continues to rise, efforts to keep global warming below the 2 degrees Celsius warming threshold will very likely fail, warns environmental research group Worldwatch Institute in a new analysis of coal data. Global coal consumption rose 3 percent from 2012 to 2013, reaching over 3,800 million tons of oil equivalent (mtoe) in 2013, according to numbers provided to Worldwatch by BP

From Bad To Worse: A Roadmap To Global Burning
By Pablo Solón

The “Lima call for climate action” which came out of the recent UN climate talks, establishes a roadmap to a post-2020 agreement that will be weaker than the ongoing Cancun Agreement (for 2012-2020), and it lays a foundation for an even worse agreement in Paris in 2015

Everything's Coming Together While Everything Falls Apart The Climate for 2015 
By Rebecca Solnit

Two hundred years hence, may someone somewhere hold in their hands a document from 2021, in wonder, because it was written during Year Six of the climate revolution, when all the old inevitabilities were finally being swept aside, when we seized hold of possibility and made it ours. “Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings,” says Ursula K. Le Guin. And she's right, even if it's the hardest work we could ever do. Now, everything depends on it

Food Sovereignty: 5 Steps To Cool The Planet And Feed Its People
By La Via Campesina, GRAIN

How the industrial food system contributes to the climate crisis. Between 44% and 57% of all GHG emissions come from the global food system

Mental Health And Globalization: An Alternative Theory On The Mental Health Crisis
By Josh Pendergrass

A society built around the values of growth, competition and manipulation is one that requires us to go against innate tendencies toward cooperation and pro-social behavior. Being maladjusted to this type of culture may very well be a sign of a healthy human being. As the psychologist R. D. Laing said, “Insanity is a perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world.”

Behind Obama's Change Of Cuba Policy
By Jack A. Smith

What is the true meaning of President Obama's historic announcement Dec. 17 about establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba and eliminating some — though hardly all — the diverse punishments imposed upon this small socialist society a stone's throw away from the vengeful Yankee Colossus? It means that efforts to destroy the communist government of Cuba — from a CIA invasion to the imposition of seemingly endless draconian economic and political sanctions—have failed. In this David-Goliath contest, David was seriously wounded, but won. However, there is a second round to this competition that will likewise test David's powers

A Century Of Radical Dissent In Israel/Palestine
By Dr. Ludwig Watzal

Book Review: Ran Greenstein, Zionism and its Discontents. A Century of Radical Dissent in Israel/Palestine, Pluto Press, London 2014, 248 pp, $ 28.50

The Peshawar Massacre: Some Reflections Beyond The Condemnations…
By Democratic Students Union, JNU

While the death dance of imperialism is hardly televised and hence is obscured from public memory, instead, only certain things are selectively projected, canvassed, magnified in our heads and condemnations elicited. We must at least be aware of the above while we condemn the gruesome massacre in Peshawar. We must hold US imperialism as the biggest, bloodiest and most brutal terrorist of our times that poses the deadliest threat to the oppressed millions of the world, to humanity at large. And if we are ever to end this violence, then we must unite to fight this terror unlashed by the US and its puppet regimes, whether in India or Pakistan or anywhere else in the world. It is only through this struggle that we can build a more democratic, more egalitarian and just society

22 December , 2014

Understanding The Aggressive US Stance Towards Russia
By Robert Barsocchini

Russia is of course guilty of crimes, the US is guilty of the same and far worse crimes, and is fervently supporting many other criminal groups and states. Thus, to understand why US extremists (not the US public) in control of the state are putting us all in serious potential danger by choosing to target nuclear Russia, we have to look back, and, of course, beyond the narrative peddled by the aggressors themselves

How One Indigenous Woman Took On A Multinational Mining Corporation... And Won
By Sarah Lazare

Indigenous Peruvian farmworker Maxima Acuña de Chaupe withstood violent eviction attempts, beatings, and a legal battle to protect her land from being turned into an open-pit gold mine

Yousef Al-Rammouni And Israel's Moral Suicide
By Vacy Vlazna

Yousef al-Rammouni did not commit suicide. He was murdered, and his father, like any father, wants, at the very least, the integrity of his son's life respected through a non prejudicial criminal justice system. Yousef al-Rammouni did not commit suicide - but the day Zionism launched its colonial occupation and oppression of Palestine, that is when the colonisers, past and present, committed moral suicide

The State Of Israel At A Crossroads!
By Dr salim Nazzal

After 65 years of its foundation by a combined effort of the Zionist zealots, and the British imperialism, Israel seems to be facing a situation it always tries to avoid. To be internationally isolated

The Persistent U.S. Opposition To Palestinian Self-Determination
By Matt Peppe

When the Palestinians finally are able to achieve their basic human right of self-determination, it will be in spite of decades of U.S. interference and complicity in Israeli repression. As they were in Vietnam and Southern Africa, and as they continue to be in Puerto Rico, the United States will shamefully be on the wrong side of history

The Nanjing Genocide And The Future Of Asia
By Chandra Muzaffar

Peace between China and Japan is therefore vital for the future of Asia and indeed the world. We should do all we can to achieve this precious peace within a short span for an obvious reason. There are actors within and without the region who are already exploiting Sino-Japanese tensions in pursuit of their own agendas. We should not allow them to succeed through default

Sri Lanka Socialist Challenger Siritunga Jayasuriya's Campaign Rally Attacked
By Campaign Team - USP

Socialist Challenger candidate in Sri Lanka Presidential election, Siritunga's Potthuvil election rally attacked as hundreds throng to listen!

21 December , 2014

US Escalates Campaign Against North Korea
By Patrick Martin

The Obama administration ratcheted up the pressure on the isolated Stalinist regime in North Korea, with the FBI formally accusing North Korea of responsibility for the hacking attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment and Obama declaring that the US government would carry out an unspecified “proportionate response” against Pyongyang at “a time and place of our own choosing.”

What Climate Change Asks Of Us: Moral Obligation, Mobilization And Crisis Communication
By Margaret Klein

Climate change is a crisis, and crises alter morality. Climate change is on track to cause the extinction of half the species on earth and, through a combination of droughts, famines, displaced people, and failed states and pandemics, the collapse of civilization within this century. If this horrific destructive force is to be abated, it will be due to the efforts of people who are currently alive. The future of humanity falls to us. This is an unprecedented moral responsibility, and we are by and large failing to meet it

The Peshawar Attack: The Act And The Actor
By Priyanka Dass Saharia

Social media forums were flooded with statuses spewing loathe at the group, lamenting upon the degeneracy of the Pakistani government, the ‘illegitimate', ‘failed' state that it was, inevitably. Painting in broad strokes, various hate messages splashed around political jargon citing bigotry, myopic political visions and one even went up a notch in associating a ‘fetish for terror backed political manoeuvrings' to the event. The message was clear – It was evil. It brings me to mention a famous and much controversial work of moral inquiry through trial reportages by Hannah Arendt, “Eichmann in Jerusalem”, where she illustrated upon the banalisation of evil through discourses of professionalism rather than ideology

Peshawar Taliban Massacre: Global Turning Point Against Religious Fanaticism
By Feroze Mithiborwala

The Peshawar Massacre is a turning point against the forces of religious extremism, terror and the Anglo-Zionist Imperial war-machine. The struggle against these very reactionary forces, will define the course of our collective human history and over the course of the coming decade. The struggle will lead to the rise of the secular, liberal, Left democratic and liberatory spiritual forces across the world

Crucifying Children At The Altar Of Great Power Game
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali

The stunned and shaken people of Pakistan mourned the Peshawar Army Public School massacre of 149 people including 132 children, the government announced new measures to combat terrorism. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced the removal of the ban on the death penalty for terrorist offences which had been in force since 2008. Mr Sharif had lifted the ban last year, but re-imposed it when he launched peace talks with militants

Turkey's Foreign Policy In The 21st Century
By Jon Kofas

If Turkey under Erdogan in the last twelve years had created a more evenly distributed income across all social segments, there would be no need to manipulate the issue of Islam at home and abroad any more than pursuing a foreign policy immersed in contradictions. Trying to replace the Kemalist institutional structure with a corrupt clientist network that would secure the preeminence of the Justice and Development Party has force Erdogan into foreign policy schemes that have backfired and may ultimately bring down his regime by a combination of domestic upheaval, and/or military intervention in the political arena with the support of the US and other governments that see no benefit supporting the current regime

Racist Cops: Only A Symptom Of White Supremacy
By Mickey Z

Yes, we must expose Blue Bloc malfeasance and stand in solidarity with those most commonly victimized by police behavior. But if we lose sight of the big picture, well, we've seen that show a few thousand times, haven't we? Law enforcement tactics are merely symptoms. We must stay more focused on the disease... before we run out of time

The Secular Stake: A Burden, Or A Democratic Imperative?
By Sanjay Kumar

Should India remain, or rather become secular, only for minorities' sake? Then, why should the majority be interested in secularism? Only because of their 'good neighbourly' sense, or to avoid civil strife of communal clashes? The tragedy and the farce of Indian secularism is precisely this, that ever since its initial conception and practice during the freedom movement, it has remained hostage to a majority-minority framework, and it has implicitly answered all the above questions in the affirmative. Nothing can be farther away from the real significance of secularism for a modern democracy. There have been many non-democratic secular regimes. Secularism though is a democratic imperative. What everybody, including minority citizens, lose in the absence of secularism are distinct democratic freedoms which only secularism can assure

NC/PDP Alliance-Modi’s Nightmare!
By Mohammad Ashraf

Do they have the sincerity and the urge to serve the people and heal their wounds? Yes, only to the extent of professing it for their own selfish goals. The last 60 years of uncertainty which have made them go round in circles have not tempered them and made them realise the bleakness of the future. By all accounts both do not seem to have any future in the ultimate disposition of Kashmir. They still have a chance to change it if only they see the writing on the wall. It would be in their own interests to give up their hypocritical stances as well as mutual confrontation and come out openly in support of the true aspirations of the people. This will either make the other umpteen parties professing to be popular saviours of the people totally irrelevant or force them to coalesce like tongue and groove joints in wood to maintain their credibility. Either way it is the common people who will benefit from such an eventuality

20 December , 2014

European Union Ramps Up Sanctions Against Russia Amid Ruble Crisis
By Alex Lantier

Depite sharpening divisions within the European Union over the implications of the collapse of the Russian currency, the two-day EU summit in Brussels stepped up Europe’s confrontation with Russia, imposing new EU sanctions to keep businesses from operating in Crimea

Head Of Stratfor, ‘Private CIA', Says Overthrow Of Yanukovych
Was ‘The Most Blatant Coup In History'

By Eric Zuesse

In a December 19th interview in the Russian magazine Kommersant, George Friedman, who is the Founder and CEO of Stratfor, the ‘Shadow CIA' firm, says of the overthrow of Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych that occurred on February 22nd of 2014: “It really was the most blatant coup in history.”

The Oil Price Crash Of 2014
By Richard Heinberg

We may be witnessing one of history's little ironies: the historic commencement of an inevitable, overall, persistent decline of world liquid fuels production may be ushered in not by skyrocketing oil prices such as we saw in the 1970s or in 2008, but by a price crash that at least some pundits are spinning as the death of “peak oil.” Meanwhile, the economic and geopolitical perils of the unfolding oil price rout make expectations of business-as-usual for 2015 ring rather hollow

American Exceptionalism And American Torture
By William Blum

If you open the window of torture, even just a crack, the cold air of the Dark Ages will fill the whole room

Talking To A Palestinian About Israel, American Dissent,
Brainwashing And Hijacked Protests 

By Linh Dinh

Like Al-Khateeb's parents, I'm also a refugee, and like him and so many others, we're merely history's lesser victims, for we've only been uprooted, and not killed or maimed. Do we have a common enemy? Do you and I? It was my hope that the interview would be a vehicle to explore this question

The Germans Rebuilt Dresden And The Syrians Will Rebuild Aleppo!
By Franklin Lamb

All people of good will who accept their personal duty to join the people of Syria in preserving, protecting and restoring our shared global heritage can take solace from what this observer witnessed an exhilarating demonstration of the sublime capacities of our shared human spirit as we help to salvage our cultural heritage

Statues Of Nathuram Godse, Killer Of Mahatma Gandhi To Be Erected All Over India
By Shehzad Poonawalla

Petition (filed) to PM, MHA, MHRD, Law Ministry against the proposed installation of statues of Nathuram Godse, terrorist and killer of MK Gandhi using public funds/land and attempts to revisit, legitimise his case by Sangh ideological affiliates/Hindu Mahasabha . Action demanded from PM and Government of India

Jammu And Kashmir Elections: Irony In itself
By Kashoo Tawseef

Crorepatis, people facing criminal charges and school dropouts contesting

Sri Lanka Presidential Election: Socialist Candidate Challenges All Other Forces
By CWI India

Interview with Siritunga Jayasuriya, Presidential candidate for the United Socialist Party

19 December , 2014

US Stokes Conflict With North Korea Over Sony Hacking
By Patrick Martin

The US government is preparing to retaliate against North Korea for its alleged role in the hacking attack on Sony Pictures, Obama administration officials said Thursday. While declining to go on the record placing responsibility on North Korea for the hacking—likely in part because they can produce no evidence—several top officials suggested that US cyberwarfare countermeasures were already in preparation

Leaked Emails: Obama Exerted Influence over “The Interview”
By Robert Barsocchini

Antiwar.com's Dan Sanchez reported on leaked emails that reveal that the Obama regime exerted influence over the movie The Interview “to encourage assassination and regime change in North Korea”. Regarding the threats of bombings of theaters if the film was shown, Obama has been personally encouraging people to “go the movies” anyway, while hardliners like Mitt Romney have specifically encouraged people to go see The Interview

Physicians’ Group Details Psychologists’ Role In CIA’s “Extensive System Of Torture”
By Matthew MacEgan

The organization Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) has published a medical and psychological analysis of the US Intelligence Committee’s report on CIA interrogations, concluding that psychologists played “the essential role” in an “extensive system of torture and ill-treatment” run by the CIA under the Bush administration

Religious Fanatics Groups: The Fascists In The Making
By Farooq Tariq

Such was the devastating effect on children across Pakistan that my son aged 14 asked his mum what should he do in case they come to his school, “line up or run”

Fascist War Against Humanity
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

South Asia has to grow by secular democratic process. The imposition of religious values and religion by state is dangerous. Can we imagine a South Asia with common text books, common history books and common social studies ? Is it possible ? It could be possible if we want to make our children better human beings

Israel’s Wall In The Little Town Of Bethlehem
By Eileen Fleming

On Christmas Eve as we sing “O Little Town of Bethlehem” I will remove the removable wall and because I still believe in miracles I will say another prayer for the end of American Tax dollars that perpetuate injustice, violence, and conflict and for US support for a just peace in the Holy Land so that Israel’s Wall will fall

Christian Dogma Should be Questioned
By Andre Vltchek

No ideology, no religion, no calamity, killed more people on our planet than Christianity. Year after year, wherever I happen to be and work on this planet, I'm waiting for these topics of utmost importance to be discussed. I am waiting in vain. With the exception of Latin America where many great thinkers like Eduardo Galeano or Abel Posse are relentlessly reminding the people about their past – about the horrendous crimes committed in the name of and under the shadow of the Cross – Christianity with the inexorable support of the Empire's propaganda is still managing to choke the memory of the world. It is also managing to break the ability of people to clearly analyze the horrendous past that is now effortlessly overflowing into the present, and poisoning our planet

Fracking Movement Wins As NY Bans Fracking
By Kevin Zeese

In a major victory for people who have been working to stop hydraulic fracturing for gas, known as fracking, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York announced a ban on fracking in New York State

The Invasion Of Panama And The Proclamation Of A Lone Superpower Above The Law
By Matt Peppe

Twenty five years ago, before dawn on December 20, 1989, U.S. forces descended on Panama City and unleashed one of the most violent, destructive terror attacks of the century. U.S. soldiers killed more people than were killed on 9/11. They systematically burned apartment buildings and shot people indiscriminately in the streets. Dead bodies were piled on top of each other; many were burned before identification. The aggression was condemned internationally, but the message was clear: the United States military was free to do whatever it wanted, whenever it wanted, and they would not be bound by ethics or laws

Cuba And The U.S.: Some Historical Context
By Mickey Z.

As we contemplate the latest news about a possible shift in U.S.-Cuba relations, a little historical context can go a long way...

18 December , 2014

Obama, Castro Move To “Normalize” US-Cuba Ties
By Bill Van Auken

The simultaneous speeches delivered by US President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro Wednesday afternoon marked an historic turning point in what has been a protracted search for rapprochement between the Castro regime and US imperialism

Cuba-Question: A Major US Retreat
By Farooque Chowdhury

A major US retreat on Cuba-question is evident in the US president Barack Obama's December 17, 2014 announcement: “In the most significant changes in our policy in more than 50 years, we will end an outdated approach that, for decades, has failed to advance our interests …”

US Targeting Hundreds Of Millions Of Russian Civilians
By Robert Barsocchini

White House officials are openly expressing happiness with their siege/war tactics that they say are throwing Russia into an economic collapse and are, as a scholar defending the siege notes, “hurting the Russian public's ability to buy food or heat homes”. This eagerness to starve and freeze children is particularly relevant given the recent publicity of the US's tactics of starving and freezing innocent detainees as well as people claimed to be “suspects”

Ukrainian Soldier Confirms: Ukraine's Military Shot Down Malaysian MH17 Plane
By Eric Zuesse

A Ukrainian soldier who was part of the crew that operated the supposed missile-battery that the Ukrainian Government claims shot down the Malaysian MH17 airliner on July 17th has testified publicly for the first time, saying that the missile-battery was operated by the Ukrainian military, not by the rebels as asserted, and that he and his former crew-mates who operated it laughed when they heard their Government say that this missile-battery was operated by rebels and had shot the airliner down

Putin Shot Down A Plane! Putin Shot Down A … What? Never Mind
By David Swanson

Here's a petition that concerned people are signing: Calling For Independent Inquiry of the Airplane Crash in Ukraine and its Catastrophic Aftermath, To: All the heads of states of NATO countries, and of Russia and the Ukraine, to Ban-ki Moon and the heads of states of countries on the UN Security Council

The Unspeakable In Afghanistan
By Patrick Kennelly

Perhaps if the last 13 years had been less focused on foreign political motives and military aid and more focused on initiatives like the Border Free Center, the situation in Afghanistan might be different. If energies were focused on peacemaking, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding, perhaps people could acknowledge the reality of the situation and create a true transformation of the Afghan state

Whitewashing CIA Torture: “We Are [not so] Awesome” After All
By Ramzy Baroud

The logic that torture is a “stain” on US history is the heart of the problem, since it blocks an honest reading of whatever “values” Washington actually stands for. “This is not who we are. This is not how we operate,” were the words of President Barack Obama commenting on the grisly findings of a long-awaited congressional report on the use of torture by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). But what if this is exactly who we are?

How Is Ghar Vapasi Different From Forcible Conversions?
By Ram Puniyani

Do we need laws to ban conversions? We have laws to punish those who indulge in force, fraud and allurement. What we need is to distinguish between voluntary conversion and forced one’s. Ghar Vapasi is a shrewd name for forcible conversions. So what we need is the political and moral will to promote freedom of religion and punish the guilty, using illegal means to achieve the change of faith. The so called ‘Freedom of Religion’ bills are there not to provide freedom of conscience but to curb the same by legal means

Sri Lanka: Who Can Free Us To Make Our Own Choice?
By Nilantha Ilangamuwa

Elections are not new for us. In fact most of elections were turned into a type of carnival where supporters of the each parties enjoy their political blindness out of the social disorder which was deliberately created by neo-feudalistic clan in the Island nation. This is an entertaining tragic drama of distorted political culture. What I find very interesting is that despite holding more elections in Sri Lanka we are losing more space to enjoy basic norms of the democracy. In other words, more elections mean less democracy

17 December , 2014

Terrorist Attack In Pakistan Kills More Than 130 Children
By Keith Jones

A terrorist attack Tuesday by the Tehreek-e-Taliban or Pakistan Taliban on a military-supported public school in Peshawar in north-west Pakistan left more than 150 people dead—the vast majority of them children

Pakistan: A Failure To Understand
By Maryam Sakeenah

The problem with the public perception of the war in Pakistan is that we see only part of it: we see the heartrending images from Peshawar and elsewhere in the urban centres where terrorists have struck. But there is a war that we do not see, hidden from public view. This is the war in the tribal north. The familiar images we see from the war divide the Pakistani victims of this war into Edward Herman’s ‘worthy’ and ‘unworthy’ victims- both, however, are innocent victims- the ones we see and the ones we do not. But because some victims are unworthier than others, the unworthy victim claims worth to his condemned life in dying, misled into thinking that death by killing others can be a vindication

Ukraine's Two Big Gas Deals Are Now Both Dry
By Eric Zuesse

In June, Shell Oil halted its newly dug shale-gas wells at the Yuzivska gas field in southeastern Ukraine, and gave as the reason the civil war there, though only after Ukrainian Government troops had ousted the local residents (who had opposed fracking) was Shell even enabled to dig the wells, so Shell's departure was puzzling. Then, on 19 June 2014, Igor Alexeev at the oilprce blog presented the reasonable hypothesis of “The Real Reason Shell Halted Its Ukrainian Shale Operations”: “In reality, the truth may be closer to the fact that company is disappointed with the economic viability of what it once thought was a large shale deposit and is looking for a way out.”

Israeli Role In Syrian Conflict Brought Into The open
By Nicola Nasser

Israel is also capitalising on the war on the IS to misleadingly portray it as identical with the Palestinian “Islamic” resistance movements because of their Islamic credentials. “When it comes to their ultimate goals, Hamas is ISIS and ISIS is Hamas,” Netanyahu told the UN General Assembly on September 29

And To All, A Good Night
By John Chuckman

A Contemporary Christmas Tale

Why Is Near Term Human Extinction Inevitable?
By Robert J. Burrowes

Extinction might be howling outside our door but, if you have the courage, you can still fight. There is no downside in trying. But we need to fight strategically so that we defeat elite fear. How long do you want to wait before joining the fight?

To Kiss or Not To Kiss…. ! How A Romantic Issue Turned Patriotic
By Maharathi

What an irony that the saviours of the Indian culture turn violent, throwing to the winds the tenets of the Father of the Nation whose life and teachings are essentially reflective of the Indian ethos! But the so-called “anti-Indian and westernised’’ youth adopt non-violence, the moral weapon of Gandhiji, in their battle for their personal freedom

16 December , 2014

Oil Price Slide And Rouble Plunge Shake Global Markets
By Nick Beams

Sharp falls in European markets and wild swings on Wall Street yesterday, combined with a further plunge of more than 10 percent in the value of the Russian rouble, indicate that the worsening global slump is starting to have a major impact on financial markets

US Feels The Heat On Palestine Vote At UN
By Jonathan Cook

The floodgates have begun to open across Europe on recognition of Palestinian statehood. On Friday the Portuguese parliament became the latest European legislature to call on its government to back statehood, joining Sweden, Britain, Ireland, France and Spain. In coming days similar moves are expected in Denmark and from the European Parliament. The Swiss government will join the fray too this week

Imperialism And The Politics Of Torture
By James Petras

Despite over 6,000 pages of documents and testimony, recording crimes against humanity, the Senate Report is unlikely to trigger any reforms or resignations. This is not because of the actions of some mysterious “deep state” or because a ballooning national security apparatus has taken power. The real problem is that the elected officials, Presidents and Congress people, Democrats and Republicans, neo-liberals and neo-conservatives, are deeply embedded in the security apparatus and they share the common quest for world supremacy. If Empire requires wars, drones, invasions, occupations and torture, so be it! Torture will truly disappear and the politicians will be put on trial for these crimes, only when the empire is transformed back to a republic: where impunity ends justice begins

Prosecute The Tortureres!
By Chandra Muzaffar

Two top United Nations human rights officials have demanded that the United States government prosecute all high-level government officials involved in the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) torture programmes

Dick Cheney And A “Flawed” Report
By Farooque Chowdhury

Revelations from the US are now near-overwhelming. There are not only exposures of torture techniques to “defend” democracy and peace; but intricacies, and lies and truths of politics in the land are also there. The US Senate report on tortures by CIA has done the job

U.S. Torture: Old Wine, New Bottles
By Mickey Z.

So, comrades, instead of debating the minutiae of the latest torture report, instead of choosing to be surprised, instead of turning this into yet another pathetic two-party debate [sic], instead of creating Cheney memes, let’s instead do the work to see past the corporate propaganda. Let’s instead do the daily -- hourly -- work of creating broader coalitions. Let’s instead challenge the torturer inside ourselves so we can begin the essential work of celebrating differences without assigning privilege. Let’s instead make connections in the name of creating a softer place to land

Power, Profit And The GMO Issue
By Colin Todhunter

The science surrounding GMOs is becoming increasingly politicized and bogged down in detailed arguments about whose methodologies, results, conclusions and science show what and why. The bigger picture however is often in danger of being overlooked. GMO is not just about 'science'. As an issue, GMO and the chemical-industrial model it is linked to is ultimately a geopolitical one driven by power and profit

Go West, Young Han : As Washington “Pivots” To Asia, China Does The Eurasian Pirouette 
By Pepe Escobar

At present, the choice between the two available models on the planet seems stark indeed: Eurasian integration or a spreading empire of chaos. China and Russia know what they want, and so, it seems, does Washington. The question is: What will the other moving parts of Eurasia choose to do?

Scientific Temper And More
By Dr.S.G.Vombatkere

In a free society, scientific temper and religious practice co-exist without conflict and persecution. Their co-existence is vital for a society with a liberal Constitution such as ours, which guarantees liberty of religious practice and also prescribes duty of scientific temper. It is the responsibility of public personalities and people's representatives not to confuse the two, to avoid exacerbating conflicts within our troubled society

Non-Performance Of Gen-III Reactor At Koodankulam:
Safety Implications For AES-2006 VVER Reactors Worldwide

By VT Padmanabhan, R Ramesh, Joseph Makkolil

Finland’s parliament has recently approved a joint venture with Russia to build a VVER 1200 MWe, design AES-2006 pressurized water reactor which ‘complies with the IAEA and EUR requirements’ of a generation-III (Gen-III). AES-2006 design has not undergone the Gen-III assessment process. Its parent -design AES-92 which was certified as Gen-III in 2007 is missing from the genealogy of AES-2006 given in a presentation by the vendor, Rosatom. We propose that there are strong reasons to believe that this disappearance is due to the dismal performance of the AES-92 reactors at Kudankulam (KK) in India and the controversy surrounding its Gen-III certification

Mahabharata’s Last Battle!
By Mohammad Ashraf

If India and Pakistan fail to check the religious extremists from taking over, one never knows these western powers may even encourage and allow a small nuclear exchange as a lesson for other similarly disposed countries! The famous epic of the ancient India, Mahabharata mentions Kal Yug, which is already here. India and Pakistan have become Korvas and Pandvas and Kashmir is the Drupadi who has been disrobed umpteen times! Ultimately, this tussle may end in a nuclear exchange which would definitely be the last battle of Kurukshetra thereby ending the whole epic of Mahabharata!

The General Law Of Rebellion In Bangladesh
By Farooque Chowdhury

The Bangladesh people found the period of debate closed by the Pakistan military junta in the late-March, 1971, and relevant issues were referred to arms. The period was imposed by the state of Pakistan with its treachery, betrayal, brutality, and arson and murder at mass scale, and the Bangladesh people by resorting to armed struggle heroically created a condition to make a forward march towards a new era for politics for a humane, peaceful, prosperous life, and for an equitable control over and distribution of resources. The new era for politics is long with treacherous turnings, costly compromises and backlashes; but, ultimately, it will be a people's era for politics, a part of the War for Liberation. And, the rebellion will revolve to revolution

15 December , 2014

'A Roadmap To Global Burning': COP20 Closes With Even Weaker Climate Pact
By Lauren McCauley

After two weeks of negotiations, the world community has yet again failed to take any meaningful actions to prevent landmark global warming and instead has produced a "roadmap to global burning," leading climate campaigners lamented upon the close of the United Nations COP20 climate talks in Lima, Peru on Sunday

Tens Of Thousands Join Protests Against Police Killings In The US
By Joseph Kishore

Tens of thousands of protesters participated in demonstrations against police violence in New York City, Washington, DC and other US cities on Saturday. In New York, at least 50,000 gathered at Washington Square Park and marched through the streets of Manhattan. In Washington, DC, 25,000 participated in a protest that far exceeded the expectations of the organizers, including the National Action Network, led by Democratic Party operative Al Sharpton. Some 3,500 participated in a demonstration in Oakland, California

Stop Torture! Accountability: YES – Impunity: NO
By Hans von Sponeck and Denis Halliday

Statement and petition initiated by two former UN Assistant Secretaries-General, UN Humanitarian Coordinators for Iraq: Hans von Sponeck and Denis Halliday

American Torture -- Past, Present, And… Future? Beyond The Senate Torture Report 
By Rebecca Gordon

The Senate torture report could be the opening we need to really make U.S. torture a thing of the past. Let's not waste it!

Legitimate Palestinian Questions In The Christmas Time
By Dr Salim Nazzal

In the Christmas time we chant for peace in Palestine and the Middle East, and for humanity. The Palestinian Christmas is loaded with many questions which Palestinians ask all the time

Questions Begged By The Unanimous Foregone Conclusions
On “Godman” Ramphal And The Storming Of His Ashram

By Simran Kaur

Caught in my self-identity as “educated,” I am usually quite quick to offer the usual condemnation of “deras” and the “illiteracy,” if not “criminality,” they breed. So the storming of one such dera less than a month ago by the Haryana police may not have made me loose much sleep. However, when the deaths of four women and an 18-month-old baby as a result of the storming by the police were accepted as mere collateral, I wondered. And as a one-sided story quietly made its way through diminishing news cycles, while Progressive blogs and mainstream media quite aligned on foregone conclusions, I began to wonder some more

Why Didn’t I Vote?
By Suhail Qasim Mir

Had it been beyond the issues of road, electricity and water, I would have voted. Had it been about justice, I would have voted. Had it been a plebiscite I would have been the first one to express my choice. But it was not any of these; that is why I didn’t vote……

14 December , 2014

War Drums Beat Louder And Faster Between U.S. And Russia
By Eric Zuesse

On Saturday, December 13th, Russian media reported that U.S. President Obama evidently can't wait to sign the congressional authorization for war against Russia (which has already been passed in draft form by 98% of U.S. House members and 100% of U.S. Senate members), and that he is already shipping military supplies into Ukraine for use against Ukraine's ethnic Russians that the Ukrainian Government is trying to eliminate

Embracing The Specter Of Systemic Collapse
By Tristan A. Shaw

The collapse of industrial civilization is an irrevocable reality that must be assimilated into our reckoning. All endeavours to sustain our current system, through faith in modern science or some sanguine hope in a mass awakening, will, in the end, only deepen our philosophical apathy

Who Is Trapped?
By Alan Hart

It’s Israel’s Jews NOT the Palestinians who are trapped in their public narrative

The Kiss Revolution Is On the Streets!
By K.P. Sasi

The Kiss of Love protests were only symbolic actions against the politics of hatred. It need not have any sexual intentions also. Looking at the Kiss of Love protests in Cochin, Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai, Hyderabad etc., I am convinced that the youth today have found new forms of struggle which cannot be dreamt of by the old time activists. While the Sanghis and other communal forces are trying to spread fear through the politics of hatred, I am getting a gut level feeling that they are too frightened about the power of a `Kiss of Love’! For once, let us recognise one basic truth of life: That love can unite, create harmony and peace much more than hatred

Scenes From Ferguson: The Uprising's Reach, And The Reaction
By Larry Everest 

I've been in Ferguson since November 22, and I don't think a day has gone by where there hasn't been a protest, most often multiple protests. There may be one at the Ferguson police station, and another in the St. Louis Shaw neighborhood, just south of the City Center, or perhaps on one of the campuses: Washington University, St. Louis University, the University of Missouri St. Louis, and/or out in Clayton or West County

The US Torture Empire
By Dr. Ludwig Watzal

The nations of the world should dissociate from the United States. This "indispensible" nation is rotten to the bone. Nobody should listen to the political jabberwocky of US politicians and its warmongering Senators. Despite the big fuss the international media is making, this report would lead to nothing. He will be discussed to death. This report distracts from the real perpetrators. It is of the same caliber as "The 9/11 Commission Report", which obfuscated more than it revealed. This US Empire is dispensable for the rest of the word

13 December , 2014

Murder Of Palestinian Minister Is Latest Israeli Provocation
By Jean Shaoul

Ziad Abu Ein, Palestinian Authority minister of settlement affairs, was killed by Israeli security forces Wednesday, during a small, peaceful demonstration northeast of Ramallah. Soldiers used tear gas and stun grenades to stop demonstrators reaching Adei Ad, an Israeli settlement outpost in the West Bank. His death brings to 2,625 the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since last June, at least 600 of whom were children

Apartheid Israel And Apartheid Australia Violate All Articles
Of UN Declaration On The Rights Of Indigenous Peoples

By Dr Gideon Polya

Apartheid Australia and Apartheid Australia-backed Apartheid Israel have appalling, continuing records of violating the human rights of their Indigenous Peoples through the Australian Aboriginal Genocide and the Palestine Genocide, respectively, and must be held to account by the civilized world through Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) for their genocidal crimes and for currently violating all 46 Articles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Torture Is “Not Who We Are.” Which “We” is This Guy Talking About?
By Robert Barsocchini

If Obama is referring to people living in the US who haven't tortured anyone and who oppose torture (which is the majority and does not include Obama), then he's kind of right, except to the extent that these people are still forced to support torture through having their money stolen from them and used for torture, and having zero influence over state policy

The Guardian And Monbiot versus Forbes And Worstall
By Herman Daly

I think the Guardian and Monbiot’s position is not in the least weakened by the criticism from Forbes and Worstall, but that reliance on the Cobb-Douglas production function should certainly be weakened

Eritrea: African Ideological Ebola For Imperialiststs
By Andre Vltchek

Eritrea belongs to its own people. I have worked in 150 countries of the world, and I never encountered a nation like this. What a beauty she is! And what strength, courage, and resilience she radiates! Inside, in my heart, I felt much richer than when I arrived. If this was, for Western capitalism and imperialism, a virus – political and economic, social Ebola – then I was ready to be infected by it, gladly over and over again!

Race And The State
By James Rothenberg

The killing of Blacks by White authorities, or with tacit approval of White authorities, is an old story in the United States. The best thing that can be said is it’s not as bad as it once was. That’s an ounce of justice

This December 24: Merry I.F. Stone Day
By Mickey Z

December 24 is I.F. Stone‘s birthday (he would have been 107). His journalistic example, I’d say, is about as merry a reason as any to celebrate

News Flash! America Sucks
By Tim Gatto

So this is the "New America". This is the exceptional, indispensable nation that the World cannot live without. I don't know about you, but I sincerely believe that the time has come to either change this rotten- to-the-core-system we live under, or it's time to get the hell out of Dodge. This America sucks. I don't see anything good about it anymore. It stinks like dead fish and the people in the nation are totally brain dead.The rest of the World can see it. Too bad the majority of Americans can't

Like Marx And Ambedkar, One Can Articulate Others’ Sufferings: Badri Narayan
Abhay Kumar Interviews Badri Narayan

Badri Narayan does not have an experience of being a Dalit. His research and writing about Dalit culture and politics have redefined the discipline and inspired young scholars to enter the field. One of his major contributions is to invent new sources for writing history such as folklores, songs, pamphlets, myths, memories, interviews etc. Some of these sources have also been used in his recently-published political biography of the BSP founder Kanshi Ram. At JNU’s Aravali guest house, on November 28, Abhay Kumar converses with social historian and cultural anthropologist Badri Narayan

Of Kissing And Moral Policing
By Dr. Murali Sivaramakrishnan

What is there if two willing people get to embrace and kiss in public? Why should it cause offence to the others? And anyway why should the other get involved? Why not learn to turn a blind eye as we often do when we see two animals coupling in public? Is a public kiss that offending? Why this dramatic emergence of a Hanuman Sena all of a sudden?

The wildlife photographer who is a part of the forests and Nature
By Sukumaran C. V

N. A. Naseer is a wildlife photographer par excellence. What makes his photographs different from the usual wildlife photography is that he does not visit the forest only for photographing the wildlife. He himself is a part of the forests. His photographs show the serene bond between him and the animals. He has wandered through the forests for years together without camera in hand and has become a part of the forest as the animals, birds, reptiles, butterflies and insects are. Only after being a part of it, he started to photograph the forest and its children. Now he has published a wonderful book in Malayalam titled Kaadine Chennu Thodumbole (When we Touch the Forest)

12 December , 2014

Drones And Discrimination: Kick The Habit
By Kathy Kelly

Each time I've left a U.S. prison, I've felt as thoughI wasleaving the scene of a crime.When I return to the U.S. from sites of our war making, abroad, I feel the same way. Emerging back into the regular world seems tantamount to accepting a contract, pledging to forgetthe punishments we visit on impoverished people. I'm invited to forgetabout the people still trapped insidenightmare worlds we have made for them

Torture "Architect" Mistaken In Claim Nobody's Punished For Drone Murders
By David Swanson

A psychologist who played a key role in a U.S. torture program said on a video yesterday that torture was excusable because blowing up families with a drone is worse (and nobody's punished for that). Well, of course the existence of something worse is no excuse for torture. And he's wrong that no one is punished for drone murders

CIA Torture And UK Complicity: MPs Demand Judicial Inquiry
By Countercurrents.org

The UK MPs are demanding a judicial inquiry into Britain’s involvement in CIA, the US intelligence agency, abductions of terror suspects. Human rights groups are also raising the same demand. The demands are being made following the recent release of a US Senate report into brutal torture methods used by CIA

$81 Million For Torture Experts’ “Unique Expertise”, A CIA Business
By Countercurrents.org

The US Senate’s CIA-Torture Report details CIA’s pricey contracts with those who designed the torture program

Ramsey Clark, "Without Demands For Compensation For Wrongful Deaths/Destruction,
Anti-Imperialist-Wars Journalism Is Hypocritical"

By Jay Janson

Anyone else notice that even the most important and widely published Anti-imperialist writers do not call for justice for victims and survivors of US-NATO-UN genocide? Could this be because almost all of these excellent historians live among people who have supported wars, many having participated in crimes against humanity

Modi's “Mission 44+” May Turn Into “Mufti 44+”
By Mohammad Ashraf

Narendra Modi's mission of capturing J & K for BJP may end up by handing over the State to Mufti Sayed's Self-Rule!

I Too Want To Cast My Vote
By Suhail Deen

I too want to cast my vote. I wonder though what shall I vote for. I am too determined thus far not to cast my vote not because I have to prove my loyalty to someone or some cause. Not because I don't believe in the power of democracy. I simply won't exercise my franchise because I am not convinced to the least that it does matter. Moreover, the more I think over the issue, the more distant I go from the ballot

 

11 December , 2014

UN Officials Demand Criminal Prosecution Of US Torturers
By Thomas Gaist

The US is legally obliged to prosecute all high-level government officials involved in organizing the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) torture programs, top UN human rights officials said Wednesday. The torture programs violated international law, UN special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights Ben Emmerson said

EU Demands Russia Bail Out EU & Ukraine
By Eric Zuesse

IMF says Ukraine will be bankrupt ‘within weeks' and needs $15 billion more for war against eastern Ukraine; EU threatens Russia with more sanctions if Russia lets Ukraine go bankrupt; EU will lose billions on Ukraine if Russia won't bail them out

How The President Who Pledged To Banish
Nuclear Weapons Is Enabling Their Renewal

By James Carroll

Mark these days. A long-dreaded transformation from hope to doom is taking place as the United States of America ushers the world onto the no-turning-back road of nuclear perdition. Once, we could believe there was another way to go. Indeed, we were invited to take that path by the man who is, even today, overseeing the blocking of it, probably forever

‘I Can't Breath': Racism And War In America And Beyond
By Ramzy Baroud

“I cannot breath,” were Eric Garner's last words. He died, but many millions from New York to Missouri, to Kabul and elsewhere are still gasping for air

This Changes Everything. Capitalism vs. the Climate” by Naomi Klein -
Green Socialist Revolution ASAP

By Dr Gideon Polya

Naomi Klein's important new book “This Changes Everything. Capitalism vs. the Climate” sets out the dire state of the planet due to neoliberal-driven, man-made climate change. Her very well written but lengthy book is an indignant catalogue of the machinations of the Big Polluters and their Big Green collaborators, and concludes with the faint hope of a Revolution “when societies suddenly decide they have had enough” (page 464). However before the societal tipping point is reached for Naomi Klein's Green Revolution, science-informed people must urge and apply comprehensive Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against the terracidal politicians, parties, countries and corporations that are destroying a decent future

A Tribute To Rajani Thiranagama: A Beacon For The Left
By Rohini Hensman

The 25th death anniversary of Rajani Thiranagama fell on 21 September 2014, and was marked in Jaffna with a series of events to honour her memory

10 December , 2014

CIA Used Sexual Threat And Other Brutal Methods:
US Senate Report Exposes Details Of Torture

By Countercurrents.org

The CIA carried out "brutal" interrogations of al-Qaeda suspects in the years after the 9/11 attacks on the US, a US Senate report has said. The CIA used sexual threats, waterboarding and other brutal methods to interrogate terrorism suspects and all were ineffective at eliciting critical information, according to a US Senate report released on Tuesday. The report also shows dissent and disarray within the CIA. The summary of the report, compiled by Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that the CIA misled Americans about what it was doing

Obama Tortures, Too
By Robert Barsocchini

Yes, Obama is required to stop his desperate attempts to protect suspected war criminals of all kinds, including torturers and, worse, aggressors . While constantly executing some suspects, Obama chooses to protect (and also hire ) other suspects – the ones who are suspected, often with far better reason , of incomparably worse crimes However, something major seems, unsurprisingly, to be slipping under the radar: Obama himself is also a suspect of torture and other war crimes

Winning Some Battles, But Losing The War --
An Overview Of The Present-Day World Situation

By Saral Sarkar

Here I am not going to write on the IS. My concern here is not the Greater Middle East, but the world, not the Iraq War III, but the “war” (if I am allowed to use this term) to prevent the coming worldwide collapse and to start the transition to a peaceful and sustainable world society. I have started with the Iraq War III because it is at present the clearest, the strongest and the most convincing pointer to the coming collapse

Don't Underestimate The Carbon-Regulating Capacity Of The Ocean
By Marianne de Nazareth

The feeling of peace with the ebb and flow of the vast ocean, as you stand like a little speck on the shore is overwhelming. Peace seems to flow through your mind and your feet encased in sand, as you watch the sun sink below the horizon of the waters. But do we know the amazing clean- up operation which these waves and the vastness of this water-body does to help us humans with Climate Change which is threatening to over- take the planet? It is definitely underestimated and we need to focus on what the ocean does for us for free and see how best we can prevent human destruction there as well

Top 10 Holiday Traditions for Activists
By Mickey Z.

From terminating racism and white privilege to dismantling industrial civilization. Here are 10 goals as a photo feature

USTR Protests Demand: Stop The Secrecy, Release The Texts
By Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese

The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) has been negotiated in secret throughout the Obama administration. They continue to keep the text secret and classified. This week TPP trade negotiators are in Washington, DC. The 12 countries have been unable to reach agreement as the United States demands extreme corporate power undermining the sovereignty of nations

Germany Does Something The U.S. Hasn't For Peace
By David Swanson

On December 5, the renowned weekly newspaper Die Zeit published the letter “Another War in Europe? Not in our name!” The more than 60 personalities from politics, business, culture and media certainly do not sound like the typical voices for peace, and indeed they are not. Nevertheless they came together to demand de-escalatory politics between the United States and the European Union, on one side, and Russia. They appeal to the German federal government, its representatives and the media to assume their responsibility for peace in Europe. The desire for a world without war is one shared far beyond the peace movement choir

Plutocrats For Peace: The Nobel-Carnegie Model
By David Swanson

Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) and Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) lived in an era with fewer super-wealthy individuals than today; and even Carnegie's wealth did not match that of today's wealthiest. But they gave away a higher percentage of their wealth than today's wealthy have done. Carnegie gave away a higher amount, adjusted for inflation, than all but three living Americans (Gates, Buffett, and Soros) have thus far given. Maybe imagining someone wealthy investing in peace would be a step in the right direction. Maybe it will help our thinking to know that it's been done before

Why No One Remembers The Peacemakers: Celebrating War Over And Over And Peace Once
By Adam Hochschild

December 25th will be the 100th anniversary of the famous Christmas Truce of the First World War. You probably know the story: after five months of unparalleled industrial-scale slaughter, fighting on the Western Front came to a spontaneous halt. British and German soldiers stopped shooting at each other and emerged into the no-man’s-land between their muddy trenches in France and Belgium to exchange food and gifts

ISIS: The Audacious Venture To Understand
By Maryam Sakeenah

At the terrible risk of being judged as the devil’s advocate, I dare to understand that it may at times and in part be the work of our own hands that nurtures extremist violence . As long as such wrongs continue to be done by the powerful to human beings, violent groups seeking lost pride will continue to proliferate in multifarious forms- sometimes as Khmer Rouge, sometimes as ISIS or as the undiscovered many who may just be in various stages of their genesis that contemporary global politics foster

Using Hate, Collecting Votes
By Newsclick Interviews Subhash Gatade

Newsclick interviewed Subhash Gatade on recent spurt of communal incidents in Delhi and there implications. Subhash thinks that the controversial statement and communal incidents are part of a game plan planned by BJP to win elections in Delhi. The areas they have targeted have voted for Aam Aadmi Party in last assembly elections and BJP aims to make road into it through polarization. On the question of credibility of secular forces in creating resistance to the communal tactics, Subhash feels that they were not ready to take on the majority and hence they failed. He thinks that though people are raising questions on the economic policies of the government, soon they will also resist the communal plan of BJP

Asserting Rights, Reclaiming Entitlements: Revolution By Masses
By Shalu Nigam

I will like to quote Sankhari Devi, a 54 year old widow in Rajasthan who had never received formal education, whom I met during a legal literacy training program a few months back, “I am not aware if Constitution exists or what is it…But all I know is just one thing that we need food, water, land and employment, to survive…those are our basic needs….who else can give us those…. Not courts, not laws, not panchayats, not police ….why should we go and ask them….These are ours…. If anyone threatens our survival we have to fight on our own….because for us this is life”. Or, in other word, “Nobody can give you freedom, nobody can give you justice. No laws or formal institutions can help you survive. You need to assert for your survival”

How Can Human Rights Become “Anti-National”?
By Devika Mittal

As I thought of 10 December which is observed as International Human Rights’ Day, I imagined different groups of activists across the world trying to use this day to raise awareness or advocate for their cause for justice and humanity. I also thought that we as a campaign against AFSPA should also plan something for 10 December. We must try to advocate for repeal of the black law. We must plan maybe a candle-light vigil or some other form of public demonstration. But then I asked myself, “for whom?”

Crorepatis And Crorepatnis!
By Mohammad Ashraf

The recent disclosure of assets by some of the candidates standing in the present elections highlights a murky aspect of the political set up in the state

Double Standards Of BJP In Assam
By Nupur Das

Until recently, the influence of Right wing forces were limited to few pockets in Assam and mostly dominated by secular organisations. The recent Assam bandh called by bajrang dal on 31st October supported by BJP and its partial success; the increase of its members and its other activities has come as an unpleasant surprise to many

What Ails India? L N Misra Case Decision And Raju, Yadav Are Just Symptom
By Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava

India needs to make new procedure so that the justice is not delayed. It also needs to repeal its laws related to the corruption so that country can be saved from Rajus and Yadav Singhs who are not one but many in numbers. Their tribe is big so big efforts will be required

What Is Wrong With A Rights Based Approach To TB Care?
By Shobha Shukla

TB is not just a medical problem but a social problem as well, and yet ethical and legal issues around TB have been neglected for just too long. Vulnerable and marginalized groups are still not the the focus of healthcare systems even though the 'International Standards for TB Care' rightly favours a patient-centred approach that individualizes treatment support measures (but not the treatment regimen), to suit the unique needs of the patient

Petition To National Commission For Minorities
Against Illegal Conversions By Bajrang Dal In Agra

By Shehzad Poonawalla

Petition to National Commission for Minorities (NCM) against illegal conversions by Bajrang Dal in Agra Uttar Pradesh. Action directed to be taken by Election Commission, Home Ministry and PMO against this communal agenda

09 December , 2014

Israeli Bombing Of Syria Threatens Wider War
By Bill Van Auken

Israeli air strikes conducted against Syria on Sunday constitute a provocative and criminal act of military aggression that poses the threat of widening the ongoing war in Iraq and Syria across the region

230 Million Children Affected By Armed Conflicts UNICEF Declares:
2014, A Devastating Year For Children

By Countercurrents.org

Globally, an estimated 230 million children now live in countries and areas affected by armed conflicts, said the UNICEF. As many as 15 million children are caught up in violent conflicts in the Central African Republic, Iraq, South Sudan, the State of Palestine, Syria and Ukraine – including those internally displaced or living as refugees, informed UNICEF. “Never in recent memory have so many children been subjected to such unspeakable brutality”, said Anthony Lake, UNICEF Executive Director

California's Drought Is The Worst In 1,200 Years
By Countercurrents

California's suffering with deadly drought is now old news. The news now is: The drought is the worst in 1,200 years. California is the world's 8th largest economy and the source of a substantial amount of US produces. Surface water supply shortages in California have impacts well beyond the state's borders

US Racial Cleansings, Denial, And Dominant Narrative
By Robert Barsocchini

On an unrelated assignment in the 1990s, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Elliot G. Jaspin noticed that, while there was evidence that there were once black people (slaves) in the county where he was investigating, he had not seen a single black person. He asked some townspeople, and they insinuated that blacks had, years ago, been expelled and then blocked from returning. He began to check census reports, and found that dozens and dozens of counties from the northern to mid-southern United States showed sudden disappearances of all black people

De-Radicalising The Muslim Diaspora In The West
By Taj Hashmi

Nobody can de-radicalise young Muslims overnight by engaging some Islamic scholars to teach them Islamic ethics. Most Islamic scholars again, believe in the supremacy of Islam and Muslims. They hardly teach Islam through the Quran. In sum, Muslim radicalisation in the West is not a religious but a political problem. And a political problem needs a political solution, which includes initiating a meaningful dialogue between leaders of the host nations and Muslim Diaspora

OUR LIVES...TO LIVE (seeking a JUST world!)
By Chandran Gopalakrishnan (with inputs from the OLTOL team)

Notes on a Film Festival at The FD Zone (Films Division, Mumbai), 31 Oct – 2 Nov 2014

My Tryst With ‘The Last Hug'
By Pardeep Singh Bali

This fiction hit my mind while listening to the song of movie Hyder-So Jaao na sung by Bashir. The song beautifully depicts the actual truth of the life, especially in Kashmir, where one finds solace under graves only. Government might be working to usher materialistic peace around, but true peace is unattained and seems difficult to attain, if innocent deaths continued

08 December , 2014

Ukraine Receives New Weapons
By Eric Zuesse

The Government of Ukraine held a ceremony on Saturday, December 6th, with the country’s President, Petro Poroshenko, reviewing newly donated weapons, from undisclosed donors. According to the official announcement, “The Armed Forces' units received tanks Т-64BМ ‘Bulat’, tanks Т-64 BV, Т-72 B1, Т-72UA, Т-72A, BТR-3е and BТR-4е, self-propelled artillery 2C1 and helicopters Mi-8 and Mi-2. The President personally inspected all.”

Donetsk’s Faint Hopes For New Ceasefire In Ukraine
By Ramil Zamdykhanov in Donetsk and Vera Graziadei in London

On Tuesday 2nd December, a truce was agreed for Donetsk airport and a ceasefire announcement starting from 5th December was made for the Lugansk province, but the agreement fell apart within hours. A new truce was announced beginning on 9th December with an agreement that Ukraine would begin withdrawing heavy weapons from the eastern frontline on December 10 – as long as the other side also observed the truce. There is little hope that this ceasefire will be effective and long-lasting without successful negotiations between Kiev and Lugansk/Donetsk People’s Republics

Nature Does Not Negotiate: Climate Catastrophe Is With Us Now!
By Kumi Naidoo

With heavy hearts we prepare to bear witness. We challenge those in Lima to turn their attention from the lethargy and process of the negotiations and pay attention to what is happening in the real world. We call on them to understand that climate change is not a future threat to be negotiated but a clear and present danger that requires urgent action now!

Japan’s Misuse of Climate Funds For Dirty Coal Plants Exposed
By Dipti Bhatnagar

Japan financed a coal-fired power plant in a developing country using money that was supposed to help developing countries tackle climate change. The flimsy reasoning behind this claim is the idea that because this plant uses newer, more expensive technology than Indonesia would have afforded alone, the emissions are somehow ‘cleaner’

UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals Remain Intact
By Thalif Deen

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has refused to jettison any of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by an Open Working Group of member states: goals aimed at launching the UN's new post-2015 development agenda through 2030. In a new report synthesizing the 17 goals, Ban said he was “rearranging them in a focused and concise manner that enables us to communicate them to our partners and the global public”

‘Iraqi Kurdistan’ – Western Fifth Column In The Middle East
By Andre Vltchek

This report is dedicated to Serena Shim. Because both of us, had been covering an almost identical story. Because she is dead and I am still alive. Because she was brave. Because even as she was being threatened, and scared, she did not stop her dedicated quest for the truth, and as long as people like her live, work, struggle and die for our humanity, all is not lost, yet!

Ten Reasons Why A Severe Drop In Oil Prices Is A Problem
By Gail Tverberg

Not long ago, I wrote Ten Reasons Why High Oil Prices are a Problem. If high oil prices can be a problem, how can low oil prices also be a problem? In particular, how can the steep drop in oil prices we have recently been experiencing also be a problem? Let me explain some of the issues

No Exit In Gaza: Broken Homes And Broken Lives
By Jen Marlowe

Rubble. That’s been the one constant for the Awajah family for as long as I’ve known them. Four months ago, their home was demolished by the Israeli military -- and it wasn’t the first time that Kamal, Wafaa, and their children had been through this. For the last six years, the family has found itself trapped in a cycle of destruction and reconstruction; their home either a tangle of shattered concrete and twisted rebar or about to become one

‘Kiss of Love' Protest And Patriarchal Aesthetics
By Sukumaran C. V.

Can the Kiss of Love protest be considered as a struggle against patriarchal morality and aesthetics? It has gained wide media coverage and publicity, while the ‘Standing Struggle' of the Adivasis who have been standing in front of the Secretariat (in the capital city of Kerala) for their basic right to live, for over a month, gained scant media attention and coverage. The reason is that while in the Adivasi Standing Struggle there is nothing that satisfies the sensual feelings of the middle class aesthetics, there were plenty of sensuous images and scope for voyeurism in the Kiss of Love ‘protest'. People and media were interested in the Kiss of Love affair because it catered to the collective patriarchal psyche of the middle and upper class people and the print and electronic media which furnish what the middle class ‘aesthetics' enjoys and wants to enjoy

Are All Indians Sons of Ram?
By Ram Puniyani

BJP leadership faces a dilemma. In Parliament and for the global consumption it has to keep the face of ‘Development’, while to keep its political power it has to go with the divisive agenda of its parent organization as unfolded by its associates and many elements within the party. So a clever balancing act is always in order, to hide under the apology of A Sadhvi and to turn a blind eye towards such tendencies. For them the same divisive agenda has to be operationalized with some variations in places where elections are to be held

07 December , 2014

Typhoon Hagupit Slams Into Philippines
By Andrea Germanos

Typhoon Hagupit slammed into the Philippines on Saturday, bringing torrential rains, threatening catastrophic damage and underscoring the risks brought by storms expected to become more frequent in a warming climate. Known locally as Typhoon Ruby, Hagupit made landfall in Dolores, Eastern Samar, at 9:15 pm local time with 125 mph winds. The Weather Channel reports that the storm brings "potentially life-threatening winds, storm surge and flash floods."

Oil And The Global Slowdown
By Chris Martenson

There are signs everywhere across the globe now that the central banks have failed to induce growth in the real economy, and have instead simply bought some time at the expense of pushing things even further into a zone of massive malinvestment, rank speculation, and badly inflated prices. In short, we are now past the point where the next correction could be survived injury free. It's going to hurt

The Role of Cities in Moving Toward A Sustainable Economy
By Brent Blackwelder

The story of a hippy flower-child who leveraged big economic decisions that ushered in renewable energy and sensible land-use for Austin and the State of Texas

Five Crucial Campaigns For Social, Economic And Environmental Justice
By Kevin Zeese & Margaret Flowers

One of the chants we often use in actions is "The people are rising, no more compromising!" It is beautiful to see this rising together for a better world. On all of these issues and more, we are united in our desire for justice and together we are a powerful force

U.S. House Votes 98% to Donate U.S. Weapons to Ukraine;
U.S. Public Is 67% Against. Is this democracy?

By Eric Zuesse

In a remarkable disjunction between voters and their elected (supposed) representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives, the members of the House voted on December 4th, by 411 “Yea” to 10 “Nay,” to donate U.S. weapons to the bankrupt Ukrainian Government, which is engaged in trying to eliminate the civilian population of the portion of Ukraine that had voted 90% for the former Ukrainian President whom the U.S. Government (CIA, State Department, USAID, etc.) had overthrown in a violent coup in February of this year

Viva Cuba!
By Mike Faulkner

If the prospects of real, radical change in the Latin America now seem brighter than they were then, it is no thanks to any change of heart on the part of the United States. Changes in the balance of class forces in countries such as Venezuela, Bolivia, Uruguay and Ecuador and less radical, but nonetheless encouraging signs of resistance on the part of countries such as Brazil and Argentina encourage the hope that the tide is turning and that the challenge to the neo-liberal model imposed on so many countries will permanently weaken the economic hegemony of US imperialism in the hemisphere. And, for all the difficulties it still faces, Cuba is no longer alone. Its example has been an important factor in stimulating the determination of millions to fight for the better world which is possible. Viva Cuba!

All Roads Lead To Chaityabhumi
By Aishik Chanda

Just stepping outside the station, you see that no major political parties in the state have missed the chance to give their “Hardik subhkamnayes (Heartfelt greetings) to the pilgrims on the occasion. Someone (or some organization) had even placed garlanded busts of Bharat Ratna Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Buddha along with Shivaji, as if to maintain the Dalit-Buddhist identity along with the larger Marathi identity revolving around Shivaji

06 December , 2014

Locally-Controlled, Renewable Energy Championed As Key To Climate Justice
By Jon Queally

As progress at the UN climate summit in Lima, Peru has been reported as "slow" by many observers so far, green campaigners on Friday called on world governments participating in the talks to end their continued dependence on outdated fossil fuel- and nuclear-powered energy systems and urged investment and policies geared toward building clean, sustainable, community-based energy solutions

Another Climate Change Summit: Don't Give Up
By Kumi Naidoo

Many have simply lost faith in global climate negotiations summits such as the COP 20 which started in Lima, Peru this week. But while the process has not delivered the climate action we need, I would argue that this year key things have changed and that we must continue to demand from our politicians that they listen and act and, by that, safeguard the future of next and current generations on this planet

Protests Continue Over Decision Not To Charge Cop Who killed Eric Garner
By WSWS

Anger and protests continued in New York City and in other US cities for a third day yesterday, following this week’s announcement that the police officer who killed 43-year-old Eric Garner in Staten Island in July would face no charges

The Use And Abuse Of British Muslims
By Dan Glazebrook

Using the spectre of ‘ISIS terrorism' as cover, David Cameron is pushing through the latest chapter in the British state's ongoing crackdown on civil liberties. But he is doing nothing to stop the terrorism he has helped to create

The Pro-GMO Lobby: Anti-Science And A Politically Motivated Agenda
By Colin Todhunter

The pro-GMO lobby claims that there is a scientific consensus on the safety of GM food and therefore the GMO debate is over. It claims that GMOs guarantee higher yields and less pesticide/herbicide use. The claim is also made that GM agriculture has no adverse impact on soil, the nutritional value and health of crops or biodiversity. The industry and its supporters claim that the ‘scientific community' believes GMOs can only have positive effects and point to research to back this up. These claims are bogus

Golden Age of Pearl Harbor
By David Swanson

As we read Ulysses on Bloomsday every June 16th (or we should if we don't) I think that every December 7th should not only commemorate the Great Law of 1682 that banned war in Pennsylvania but also mark Pearl Harbor, not by celebrating the state of permawar that has existed for 73 years, but by reading The Golden Age by Gore Vidal and marking with a certain Joycean irony the golden age of anti-isolationist imperial mass-killing that has encompassed the lives of every U.S. citizen under the age of 73

On The 22nd Anniversary of Destruction of Babri Mosque
Assert Your Right To A Democratic And Secular Society

By People's Alliance for Democracy and Secularism

December 6, 1992 must count as the darkest day in the history independent India. While the crowds mobilized by organisations of the RSS destroyed Babri Mosque under a planned conspiracy, the institutions of the Indian state, elected state and central governments, police and judiciary stood by as mute spectators. This was the culmination of a prolonged campaign of communal hatred and violence. Thousands of Indian citizens were killed in riots during the run-up to, and after the demolition of Babri Masjid. Yet the nature of our society and politics is such that not only the perpetrators these crimes have gone unpunished, they in fact have reaped rich political dividend

As Operation Green Hunt Extends To Engulf The Western Ghats, What Do We Stand To Lose?
By JNU Forum Against War on People

As the eyes of the corporates and the Indian state have fixed themselves on this region, preparations have also began to dispossess those adivasis who seem to come in the way way of ‘development’. While such measures would inevitably and justifiably be resisted by those adivasi people fighting in defense of their life, livelihood & dignity, the state is extending its war on people into these regions

We The “Peaceniks” Will Always Prefer Talks Over War With Pakistan
By Devika Mittal

When the peaceniks advocate for dialogue, they are not defending Pakistan. They are defending talks. They are defending meaningful and fruitful talks. It is important that talks should happen, with an agenda and after the talks, the full report should be made public. Both narratives should be presented. If the talks are not being meaningful, the solution is not to disrupt talks but to make them meaningful. Disruption of talks will not lead us to peace. We need to work to end this conflict, not to sustain it. We don’t want war with Pakistan not because we love Pakistan but because we love India. Talking about peace is not an easy thing. Talking about war is easy and ofcourse, profitable!

Economic Imperialism
By Bilal Hussain

Recently, Jammu and Kashmir government faced a financial crunch that forced the state government to borrow from open market to meet its day-to-day expenses. It is believed that the government functioning has taken a hit in the state and work on the development front has suffered as the coffers went dry

Silver Linings In Rolling Stone Rape Fiasco
By David Swanson

Individually, victims and assailants need restorative justice. Those guilty need to be brought to understand and regret their victims' pain and suffering, and to work to make it up to them to the extent possible. Victims need to be brought to understand that they are not to blame, that their community supports them, and that those responsible are sorry for what they've done. None of that comes out of an ancient British system of adversarial justice, an unprecedented epidemic of U.S. mass incarceration, or journalism that doesn't bother to get more than one side of a story

Fattening Pennsylvania Fog With The Blues
By Charles Orloski

Her music bites and sticks, and the wild man who aimed cross-bow on Wilkes-Barre Public Square is under arrest! Alexis P. Suter can show the flying drone machines how real musical rage will eventually catch-up, overcome

04 December , 2014

Anger Follows New York Grand Jury’s Failure To Indict Cop Who Killed Eric Garner
By Sandy English

Workers and youth reacted with outrage to the news that a grand jury in the New York City borough of Staten Island had decided not to indict New York Police Department officer Daniel Pantaleo in the chokehold death of Eric Garner

USA Needs A Truth And Reconciliation Process On
Violence Against African Americans—Right Now

By Fania Davis

The decision not to indict Eric Garner's killer is just the latest story in a long history of violence against black men. What response can disrupt patterns set by centuries of racism?

10 Key Points For A Broad Understanding Of The Ferguson Movement
By Robert Barsocchini

Using the world's most massive imprisonment/torture/labor system, the US in some ways, consciously or not – certainly both – disproportionately targets its ethnic minority citizens, particularly African Americans

Inequality In American Society: Need For Reservation In Real Terms For Depressed Section
By Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava

US President Barrack Obama has accepted that black youths are unhappy. They feel that right treatment is not being accorded to them. President Obama has said that “he would use his last two years in office to address the "simmering distrust" between police and minority communities” . This is sad to learn that so much divide exists in a country which is the most attractive destination for millions of immigrants. This revelation by the President brings out, albeit not so hidden fact about the USA.

The Biggest Scandal In America Is Its Controlled Press
By Eric Zuesse

Was the rigid control over a nation's press more rigid and more universal in the Soviet Union, or in Nazi Germany, than is the case in today's United States? One should not simply assume that it was, or that it wasn't, but instead recognize how extremely far from being a democracy today's United States has, in fact, become . This is the most shocking realization of all, because it's the most suppressed news of all — news about the news-suppression by the ‘news'-media

U.S. War Debt Is Over $2 Trillion And Obama Wants To Spend Just A Little More
By Pierce Nahigyan

The ultimate costs of America's wars in the Middle East will accumulate long after they have officially ended. Medical care and disability benefits will be due to their veterans for a generation to come, damaged equipment will need to be replaced, and Obama has promised to build a “Strategic Partnership” with Afghanistan. This will likely include American management of its police and military forces.  All told, Harvard calculates that the price tag for these conflicts will double and potentially triple. That means $4 trillion at its most conservative and $6 trillion at its highest

Israel's Secret
By David Swanson

Israel is that imagined United States, just formed in our grandparents' day, two-thirds of the people driven out or killed, one-third remaining but treated as sub-human. Israel is that place that must tell forceful lies to erase a past that is never really past. Kids grow up in Israel not knowing

The Mockingjay of Palestine: “If We Burn, You Burn With Us”
By Ramzy Baroud

I could have never imagined myself drawing parallels between Nuseirat, and its heroic people and a Hollywood movie; the struggle of my people is too sacred to make such comparisons. But I couldn't help it as I watched the latest from the Hunger Games franchise, “Mockingjay.” A feeling of anger initially overwhelmed me when I saw the districts destroyed by the heartless rulers of the Capitol. As I watched the movie, only Palestine, but particularly the Gaza resistance was on my mind

Bhopal: A Metaphor
By Vandana Shiva

The 30th anniversary of Bhopal gas tragedy,' writes Shiva, 'should catalyse actions worldwide for justice for Bhopal and for all victims of an economy based on toxics

Reproductive Health And Rights Of Adolescent Girls And Women:
Breaking Taboos, Reaping Dividends

By Swapna Majumdar

Consider these statistics: Globally, 370,000 million children are married every day. By 2020, an additional 142 million girls will be married before their 18th birthday. 6 million adolescent pregnancies occur in South Asia-- 90% of them inside marriage. Further, 34% of all unsafe abortions in the Asia Pacific region happen to women below the age of 25

‘Disabled’, And Amazingly Able
By Yoginder Sikand

Meet some amazing people triumphing over traumatic odds that many of us just wouldn’t be able to handle

Azeem Bolar—What An Inspiration!
By Y​oginder Sikand

As Azeem continues, I learn from him how pain can be cathartic and how even traumas can turn into opportunities for inner growth, provided we approach them in the right way. “If you don’t suffer, you don’t learn,” he says. “If things come easily for you, you don’t appreciate their value. I have used my share of difficulties to stand on my own feet, and that makes me very happy.”

Violence Against Churches And Personnel In India
By Concerned Citizens

It is with a heavy heart and great concern that we address this memorandum to you to bring to your attention incidents of violence against our Churches and personnel in the country, the latest of which is the arson in the Catholic Archdiocese of Delhi’s St Sebastian’s Church in Dlishad Garden, East Delhi in the early hours of 1st December 2014

Kashmir: Higher Voter Turnout, What Does It Speak of ?
By Suhail Qasim Mir

The highly overwhelming voter turnout in the first 2 phases of Legislative Assembly elections in J&K has sparked off a new debate. There are many arguments and counter arguments. Among other things that have been said, Indian intelligentsia is of the opinion that the higher turnout is a severe setback for the separatists. They argue that the phenomenal turnout has proven that Kashmir has reaffirmed its faith in democracy and Kashmiris have embraced the Indian Nationhood. Prime Minister, Narendra Modi called it victory of ballot over bullet. However, the optimism of Indian intellectuals and academia on the position of Kashmir is gravely misplaced

Restoring Devastated Kashmir
By Mohammad Ashraf

Restoring Kashmir to its past glory is neither difficult nor impossible because of the resilience to face all types of adversity; the people have developed for their survival over the ages!

Lenin: State And Revolution, Chapter 6: Vulgarisation of Marx
By The Opportunists (Review, Part 1)

By Thomas Riggins 

This chapter is a polemic against the "best known theoreticians of Marxism" namely Georgi Plekhanov (1856-1918) and Karl Kautsky (1857-1938) who were the leading thinkers of the Second International (1888-1914). Basically it is against Kautsky (13 pages)-- Plekhanov gets 1 page. Lenin thinks the collapse of the Second International was brought about by opportunism (abandoning the long term goals of the party for short term advantages) which was fostered by the evasion of discussion on the relation of the state to the social revolution and vice versa. This "evasion" has persisted to the present day

02 December , 2014

Climate Change Challenges: Support The Environment Or The U.S. Military?
By Kathy Kelly

Having lived through the 1991 Desert Storm bombing and the 2003 Shock and Awe bombing in Iraq, I tread carefully when speaking about any danger greater than war that children in our world might face. I won't forget children in Baghdadi hospitals whose bodies I have seen, wounded and maimed, after bombing campaigns ordered by U.S. leaders. I think also of children in Lebanon and Gaza and Afghanistan, children I've sat with in cities under heavy bombardments while their frightened parents tried to distract and calm them. Even so, it seems the greatest danger – the greatest violence – that any of us face is contained in our attacks on our environment. Today's children and generations to follow them face nightmares of scarcity, disease, mass displacement, social chaos, and war, due to our patterns of consumption and pollution. Ironically, one of the institutions in U.S. society which comprehends the disasters that loom is the U.S. military

EU: If Nations Are Serious, Climate Pledges Must Be 'Binding' Not Voluntary
By Jon Queally

As climate delegations from around the world leaders continue to meet for UN-sponsored climate talks in Lima, Peru this week, the head of the European Union's negotiating team on Tuesday said that if a final deal is to have the necessary strength to actually compel dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions over the next thirty years, it must have binding targets and enforceable mechanisms

A Countries' Economic Power Does Not Predict Its' Conservation Performance
By Marianne de Nazareth

For those of us who have been writing about species loss for years, this new study conducted by conservation scientists from the Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and BirdLife International comes as no shocking revelation that a countries economic power does not reflect its conservation of species. However, the study interestingly provides the first assessment of the performance of individual nations and regions in meeting their responsibilities for global biodiversity

“Motivated By Greed With A Complete Disregard For Food Safety And Biodiversity.” 
Why Food Sovereignty Should Not Be Handed To GMO Biotech Corporations 

By Colin Todhunter

After a four - year legislative battle, the European parliament has granted member states the ability to decide for themselves whether or not they want to allow crops of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on their soil. Writing in The Parliament Magazine, Member of the European Parliament Marc Tarabella notes that the wishes of several pro-GMO lobbies, led by several multinationals and Britain, did not prevail. A legal basis was obtained for allowing member states to ban the implementation of GMO crops and an extension of the list of motives for this. The goal to avoid contamination of traditional crops by GMO crops was also strengthened

Ailing Masses, Trailing Health Services And Healing Godmen of India
By Kandathil Sebastian

There is a wide gap in accessing the health care services between various population groups in India. This is partly due to the failure of the health services system in meeting the expectations of the ailing masses in the backdrop of rapidly rising health care costs with no visible improvement in quality of health care services. This systemic failure has led to a widespread feeling of helplessness particularly among the rural masses of India while they deal with their health problems. They look for solutions from entities which are beyond the conventional providers such as quacks, sorcerers and godmen. This essay examines the roots and nuances of this complex health seeking behavior of the ailing masses, the trailing health Services and the healing Godmen in India

Execution Of Surinder Koli Would Be A Travesty Of Justice
By Concerned Citizens

As women who have been engaged in the struggles for women’s rights and justice, we appeal to the President of India to commute Koli's death sentence or at least to stay his execution till the completion of the other cases involving other Nithari victims in which he is an accused

25 Years Ago: The U.S. Invades Panama
By Mickey Z.

Estimates range from 500 to 4,000 dead Panamanian civilians killed during the invasion and the fighting afterwards. Bush the Elder was later asked if getting Noriega was worth all those deaths. As if to confirm the unspoken tenet that some lives count more than others, the president replied: “Every human life is precious, and yet I have to answer, yes, it has been worth it.”

01 December , 2014

Ahead of UN Talks,Real Hope Placed In 'Contagious Courage' Of
Global Climate Justice Movement

By Jon Queally

As government leaders gather in Peru for COP20 negotiations, experts and campaigners say solutions to crisis of global warming do exist... if you know where to look for them

Netanyahu’s “Jewish Nation” Bill Enshrines An Apartheid-Style Constitution
By Jean Shaoul

The agreement by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s cabinet to present a Jewish nation-state bill to the Knesset at the beginning of December has provoked a major political crisis. The bill seeks to anchor Israel’s definition as an explicitly Jewish state in the country’s Basic Laws. While civil rights are theoretically still to be accorded to everyone, “according to the law”, communal or national rights will only be extended to Jewish Israelis

Israeli Barbarity And International Hypocrisy
By Dr. Elias Akleh

The slow simmering Palestinian/Israel tension have been lately escalated to a boiling level at many fronts; social, political and religious. This tension has led to many violent confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli armed security forces, and between Palestinians and armed Israeli mobs. The epicenter of these violent confrontations is Al-Quds/Jerusalem and radiates to all the major Palestinian towns in the West Bank, and to all the 1948 occupied Palestinian towns. These confrontations would ignite a Palestinian Intifada (uprising) that would be different in nature and intensity than the previous Intifadas

Repression, Resistance, And Rebellion In Police State Ferguson
By Larry Everest

If all this was taking place in countries that the U.S. has a conflict with—like Russia, China, or Iran—the same mainstream media that are now supporting the repression of protesters and the people in Ferguson would be condemning those countries as "dictatorships" and "tyrannies." Well, that is what is going on here

A Coherent System - Socialism
By Janet Surman

The system of socialism, by its very principles, is a whole lot simpler than that which has had to be endured daily within the capitalist system. Removing the prime motivation of continuous accumulation by ending all incentives or inducements for pecuniary advantage in favour of free access for all empowers the majority. This broad democratic shift to revolutionise the political and end the economic will complete the transformation to the new social order

Postcard From The End Of America : Taylor , PA
By Linh Dinh

With jobs so scarce, workers have even less leverage against asshole bosses or managers, and starting one's own business is hardly a solution, considering how many of them have been wiped out by huge corporations. On Main Streets across America , countless mom and pops are left vacant or replaced by chain stores

Aligarh Muslim University , Raja Mahendra Pratap And Attempts Of Polarization
By Ram Puniyani

On November 17 (2014), BJP chief of UP Mr. Laxmikant Bajpai and general secretary Swatantra Dev Singh visited Aligarh and directed their district unit to celebrate the birth day of Mahendra Pratap’s within the MU campus. The raja is a also Jat icon, In popular perception AMU is seen as a Muslim institution. The Jat-Muslim conflict instigated by communal forces, which erupted in the form of violence in Muzaffarnagar continues to affect in western part of UP. The BJP through its machinations allegedly wants to restore the glory of a Jat ‘king’. As such the idea is to appropriate one more of icons and in the process if the state government puts curbs on the celebration, the BJP can benefit by accusing the state Government of “Muslim appeasement”

Bhagwan Das: A Legendry Ambedkarite
By S.R.Darapuri

In memoriam on his fourth death anniversary

BJP's Mission Kashmir
By Bilal Shaheen

The Bhartiya Janta Party has made an agressive entry into the Kashmir politics. The party is on the prowl to be a new driving force of running Kashmir's messy political affairs. The decisive mandate the party gained in the Lok Sabha elections and the recent thrilling victory in the Assembly elections of Maharashtra and Haryana, the party is overtly confident of its victory in the state. So begins its Mission of securing an overwhelming electoral margin in the trouble-torn state- Mission Kashmir. They have given it the name of Mission 44+. Mission 44+ is a devious gameplan of the BJP backed by the various hindutva groups, most noteably the RSS


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